Band Makeover
by BrandedButterfly
Summary: This takes place 6 years in the future. Dewey Finn is getting older and wants to slide into the background for a while. The person they get is...interesting to say the least. This is her story.
1. a new home

Hee hee! K, me n my friends went & saw this movie and we thought it was awesome, especially when jack black played 'iron man' to show zack how to play it on the guitar, cause we play that in our marching band and we have a little song that goes to it, so we were singing out loud in the movie theater. It was funny. Anyway, I saw this movie so I had to write a ficcy bout it, of course! Kk, read and review, savvy??  
  
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Alexandria Wilson shouldered her worn black backpack and hunched over, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She wanted to go back home, not be here in this over-crowded brightly lit airport. She knew she stood out from the other people; they didn't have to keep staring at her for her to know that.  
  
She was wearing baggy dark green cargo shorts with a chain hanging from the pocket to the belt loop over a pair of torn and ripped fishnet stockings, a tight black t-shirt over a long-sleeved white t-shirt, and worn chuck high- tops. She had silver studs lining both her ears all the way up, a silver stud in her nose, and thick silver rings on every finger. Black bands decorated her right wrist, covering a white bandage. Her waist length black hair, perfectly straight, was streaked with midnight-blue. Her dark smoky eyes were surrounded by eyeliner and mascara.  
  
"Alexandria!" Mr. Wilson waved to her excitedly from the other side of the airport. Alexandria (called Zan) narrowed her dark eyes and made her way over to her father. "Wow, it's so good to see you! You've grown so much!"  
  
"Yeah, especially since the last time you saw me I was coming out of a uterus." Zan said bitterly.  
  
"Why don't you let me take your backpack and we'll go pick up the rest of your luggage." Mr. Wilson suggested.  
  
"I'll carry it, thank-you." Zan said in a low voice. "And I don't have any other luggage."  
  
"Okay then." Mr. Wilson rubbed his hands together nervously. "Well, let's go then. The car is in the parking garage. Your step-mother can't wait to meet you!"  
  
"You're married?" Zan asked with arched eyebrows.  
  
"Well, er, yes." Mr. Wilson nodded, leading the way out to the parking garage. "Her name is Clare. You'll like her a lot. She has a daughter, too."  
  
"Great." Zan said flatly.  
  
"Er, Clare will take you shopping tomorrow." Mr. Wilson went on, unlocking the car and climbing in. Zan slipped into the front passenger seat, dropping her backpack between her feet. "Do you have any other clothes with you?"  
  
"A few." Zan kicked her backpack with the toe of her shoe.  
  
"Maybe you should change before we get there." Mr. Wilson suggested nervously. "I don't know what Clare will say if you walk in dressed like..."  
  
"Like this?" Zan indicated her outfit. "Sorry to disappoint you, but this is how I dress. All my clothes look like this."  
  
"Oh." Mr. Wilson sighed and turned back to driving. They rode the rest of the way in silence.  
  
They arrived at a pretty large house with a circle drive and a pool visible in the backyard, surrounded by a wooden fence. Mr. Wilson parked his car in the driveway, then climbed out and headed for the front door. Zan followed him.  
  
"Honey! We're home!" Mr. Wilson called cheerfully, hanging his keys on a hook by the door.  
  
A short, slender woman with short curly blonde hair came out of the kitchen, smiling broadly. She was wearing an apron, and pearls. 'June Cleaver' flashed through Zan's mind.  
  
The woman's smile faltered when her eyes passed over Zan, but she quickly smiled again. "You must be Alexandria!" She exclaimed pleasantly, wiping her hands on her apron and holding it out to shake Zan's. "I'm Clare."  
  
"It's Zan." Zan said, staring straight at Clare and not shaking her hand. Clare nervously dropped her hand.  
  
"Well, Zan, it's a pleasure to have you here." She went on. "Now where is Brittany? Brittany! Come here please!"  
  
A ten-year-old girl wearing tight flared jeans a pale pink blouse came in. She had curly blonde hair as well, pulled back in a ponytail with a pink ribbon.  
  
"Zan, this is my daughter Brittany." Clare said, resting a hand proudly on Brittany's shoulder. "Brittany, this is your half-sister Zan. Why don't you show her to her room?"  
  
"Okay." Brittany shrugged. "Follow me." And she led the way up the stairs. "Do you always dress like that?" She asked, heading down the hallway.  
  
"Yes." Zan replied coldly.  
  
"Whatever." Brittany shrugged, indicating the door she had just stopped in front of. "That's your room."  
  
Without another word, Zan pushed her way into the bedroom and shut the door firmly behind her. She hated it immediately. It had a pearly white carpet and white walls. There was a balcony against the wall, draped with thin lacy curtains. There were flower lamps set up on the desk next to a brand new computer, and there were empty flowery picture frames set up for her usage.  
  
"God, this sucks." Zan dropped her backpack heavily onto the bed. It had a flowery bedspread and matching pillows.  
  
"Zan?" Mr. Wilson knocked on her door, then came in. "How do you like your room?" He asked pleasantly.  
  
"I hate it." Zan replied, her eyes hard. "I'm not going to be able to sleep in a room like this. We have to redecorate it as soon as possible."  
  
"I thought all girls liked flowers!" Mr. Wilson exclaimed. "Clare said they did..."  
  
"Do I look like the kind of girl who likes flowers?" Zan demanded acidly.  
  
"All right. You and Clare can pick out some new things while you're out shopping tomorrow." Mr. Wilson said. "Why don't you unpack as much as you can and then come down for dinner? The dining room is the first door on the right when you come down the stairs."  
  
"Whatever." Zan muttered, turning her back to him and unzipping her backpack. Mr. Wilson quietly shut the door and went back downstairs.  
  
Zan put away the few clothes she had. There was an empty cd rack by her desk, and she put all the cd's she'd stolen over the years in it. Then she glanced around her room once more in disgust, then headed downstairs.  
  
"Ah, I was just about to send Brittany to get you." Clare said cheerfully, smiling warmly at Zan as she brought a platter of roast beef into the dining room. "Have a seat." Zan reluctantly slid into the seat. She didn't like all the fancy furniture; it made her nervous. "Your father tells me that you want to redecorate your room."  
  
"I hate flowers." Zan replied bluntly.  
  
"Well everyone has their own tastes." Clare replied briskly, setting the dish down. "Brittany! George! Come on before dinner gets cold!"  
  
Zan wasn't used to so much food, so she didn't eat a lot.  
  
"Do you not like it, Zan?" Mr. Wilson asked when she pushed her plate away still half-full.  
  
"It's okay." Zan shrugged, even though it had been delicious. "I'm going back to my room to finish unpacking." And she disappeared up the stairs.  
  
In the morning, Mr. Wilson took Brittany to cheerleading tryouts, so it was Clare and Zan alone for breakfast.  
  
"How exactly do you want to decorate your room, Zan?" Clare asked politely, sipping a cup of herbal tea with her pinkie sticking out.  
  
"I don't know." Zan mumbled. "But definitely NO flowers. Or pink."  
  
"You don't like pink?" Clare asked. Zan fixed her with a flat stare. "Okay then." Clare looked away nervously. "What stores do you like? Abercrombie and Fitch is big among kids your age. So is American Eagle, and Wet Seal."  
  
"All my clothes come from thrift stores." Zan said bluntly.  
  
"Well, we'll just have to explore everything then." Clare said, flushing slightly. She finished her tea. "Are you feeling okay? You didn't eat very much."  
  
"I wasn't very hungry." Zan lied, pushing her plate away from her.  
  
"Well, let's go then." Clare said. "Martha will take care of the dishes. She's our housekeeper."  
  
"We have a maid?" Zan demanded with a flat stare.  
  
"A housekeeper, really." Clare replied, picking up her purse and leading the way to her white SUV parked in the garage.  
  
They spent all day at the stores that were 'popular' according to Clare. Zan hated everything Clare tried to make her buy. They finally went to a thrift shop, where Zan spent nearly three hundred dollars on a new wardrobe. Then they went to a linens store. They bought a black bedspread and pillows, dark red lamps and heavy curtains, and nearly a hundred and fifty dollars worth of posters to put up on the walls.  
  
"Are you sure that's how you want your room decorated?" Clare asked nervously as they drove home.  
  
"Yes." Zan said firmly.  
  
"Let's see the new room!" Mr. Wilson exclaimed cheerfully when he and Brittany returned from her tryouts. He pushed open the door.  
  
Zan was sitting cross legged on her bed. She was wearing a pair of faded, holey, baggy blue jeans with a spiked belt, a black tank top, and a spike necklace. Her streaked hair was pulled back into a messy bun secured by two chewed on pencils. She was writing something in a notebook with a black ball point pen.  
  
"It's so...dark." Mr. Wilson said, his face falling. "Are you sure that's what you want?"  
  
"Yes." Zan said, her eyes narrowing.  
  
"School starts tomorrow," Clare said, bustling into the room with some clean laundry. "You'll get your uniform later this week."  
  
"Will I take the bus?" Zan asked, closing her notebook so that her dad and step-mom couldn't see what she was writing.  
  
"They don't have a bus. It's a private school." Clare said. "I'll drive you."  
  
"Is Brittany gonna be there?" Zan asked, praying to God that she wouldn't be. Clare's eyes flashed slightly.  
  
"No. She attends the elementary school." She replied, carefully putting the clothes away in the dresser. "Dinner will be in about ten minutes. Come downstairs then."  
  
"Whatever." Zan went back to her notebook. "Would you mind shutting the door on your way out?" Mr. Wilson and Clare exchanged looks, then left the room.  
  
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Hee hee!! Sry so short, but my first chaps always are!! Read and review, cause it makes me happy!! And read my other stories too, okay? Sweetness! SNOW!! I want SNOW!! Anyway, review!! *grins* 


	2. first day of school

Hey hey!! I'm glad u guys mostly like it!! I actually have seen this movie, twice in fact. And, it may not seem weird to you, but having a lead singer and guitarist that's about 25 years older than everybody else in the band is kinda weird. So, if you don't like it that Dewey Finn isn't gonna be in it, then you can not read it, if it disturbs you that much. Yeah, I love Hot Topic. It's where I shop for most of my stuff. Just don't ever buy hair dye there, lol! I got some hot pink to dye my hair (just streak it mind you) but it washed completely out the first time I took a shower after doing it. It could be that my hair's so dark...I dunno. I had to go get it done professionally tho, lol! Yeah, I'm dying for some red high tops!! I think I'm gonna get some for xmas or something, cause my sis has been asking me about it. Okay, keep reading and reviewing!!  
  
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Zan woke up at six the next morning. She was pleased to see posters of Metallica and The Used staring at her instead of flower lamps. She took a nice long shower, which was something she had to admit she was grateful for. Then she blow-dried her streaked hair.  
  
She got dressed in a pair of baggy blue jeans with a chain hanging from one pocket, a tight black long-sleeved shirt with safety pins for fringe (she'd added them herself), and her black high tops. She wore her spiked necklace and many rings, as usual. She made sure that her sleeve covered the bandage on her wrist.  
  
She grabbed her backpack, a black side bag that only had one strap, and headed down the stairs to the kitchen.  
  
"There you are, Zan." Clare greeted her cheerfully, setting a plate of steaming French toast on the table. "I was beginning to worry about you."  
  
"I was just upstairs." Zan said blankly, dropping her bag by her feet and sliding into a chair.  
  
"Er, yes." Clare smiled placatingly. "Would you like some orange juice? Or perhaps some milk."  
  
"I'll take some coffee." Zan replied, not caring that coffee wasn't one of her options. "Black."  
  
"Coffee's not healthy for someone your age, Zan." Clare said in a slow voice, as though talking to a very small child.  
  
"Then I won't drink anything." Zan said stubbornly. Clare paused for a minute, then headed for the kitchen.  
  
Clare returned with a steaming mug of coffee, and she set it down in front of Zan. Then she sat down and took a sip of her herbal tea. "Are you looking forward to your first day of school, Zan?" She asked.  
  
"It's school." Zan said, fixing Clare with an annoyed glare.  
  
Clare pretended not to hear her. "I know it'll be a little tough jumping in in the middle of the semester, but I'm sure you'll get caught up quickly. You're a smart girl, right?"  
  
"The smartest!" Mr. Wilson said proudly, though how he knew is anybody's guess.  
  
"Oh dear," The clock in the hall chimed seven fifteen. "We'd better get a move on if I'm supposed to get you both to school on time."  
  
She dropped Zan off at the high school first, to give Zan more time to get 'settled in', as Clare put it.  
  
Zan shouldered her bag and looked up at the building. It was a large, cathedral like building, and it was quite imposing. Kids wearing uniforms were everywhere, talking, playing, studying.  
  
They all watched as Zan determinedly ascended the stone steps and entered the building. The hallway was long, with tiled floor and cement walls. There were several minor hallways going off of the first one, and several of them had lockers in them.  
  
"Can I help you, hon?" A teacher wearing thick glasses and an ugly dress stopped Zan politely.  
  
"I'm looking for the principal's office." Zan explained, tugging on a lock of her blue hair. "I'm a new student."  
  
"Are you sure you've got the right school, hon?" The teacher asked in a low, but kind, voice. "The public school is a couple of blocks away."  
  
"Yeah, I've got the right school." Zan said coldly. "I haven't gotten my uniform yet."  
  
"Oh." The woman forced a smile. "It's on the back side of the building. It's actually quite hard to find. Katie, come here a minute doll!"  
  
A girl about Zan's age came over. She had shoulder-length black hair that flipped out at the edges. She was wearing her uniform, but she was wearing brightly colored tights instead of plain white socks. They matched the scarf that hung loosely around her neck. "Yes ma'am?" She said.  
  
"Please show this young lady where Ms. Taylor's office is." The woman said. "Just tell Ms. Falconbury that I sent you there, and she'll write you a note for being late to class."  
  
"Yes ma'am." Katie nodded. She turned to Zan. "Follow me." And she began leading the way through the quickly emptying hallways. "I'm Katie." She introduced herself. When Zan remained silent, she prompted, "And you are...?"  
  
"Alexandria." Zan replied coldly. "Everyone calls me Zan."  
  
"What grade are you in Zan?" Katie asked, forcing Zan to talk.  
  
"Tenth." Zan muttered.  
  
"Me too." Katie replied. "Maybe we'll have some classes together. All our courses are required."  
  
"No electives?" Zan asked. Katie shook her head. "That sucks." Zan grumbled.  
  
"It's not so bad once you get used to it." Katie said, pushing open a door labeled OFFICE. "Ms. Falconbury, there's a new student here. She's supposed to talk to Ms. Taylor."  
  
The secretary looked up from where she was typing on a computer. "Ms. Taylor is out right now. I'll have to handle it. What's your name, dear?"  
  
"Alexandria Wilson." Zan replied, leaning against the desk in an impatient fashion. Ms. Falconbury didn't notice.  
  
"Ah yes, grade ten." She said cheerfully, pulling the file up on her computer. "Here's your class schedule and locker assignment. You've already got your books?"  
  
"Yeah." Zan said, taking the piece of paper Ms. Falconbury had handed her.  
  
"That's a good girl." Ms. Falconbury smiled broadly. She had red lipstick on her front tooth. "Katie dear, why don't you show Alexandria where her locker and first class is. I'll write you a note."  
  
"Yes ma'am." Katie replied, but this time it was reluctantly. She was beginning to dislike this new girl more and more.  
  
"Go back to your class." Zan muttered as they walked down the main hallway again. "I can find it on my own."  
  
"This school is big, and it's hard to find your way around." Katie warned.  
  
"Hmph." Zan just snorted, readjusting the strap of her bag.  
  
"There sophomore lockers are down that hall up there." Katie said, rolling her eyes and pointing. "Who do you have first period?"  
  
"McDonald for history." Zan replied, glancing briefly at her schedule. Katie groaned inwardly. That's what she and her friends had first as well.  
  
"It's that classroom right down there, the very last one in this hallway." She pointed down a different hallway. "Think you've got that?"  
  
"I can manage." Zan snapped. Then she turned and stalked off toward the sophomore lockers.  
  
Katie glared at Zan's retreated back. Then she turned on her heel and went down the hallway to McDonald's classroom, her backpack bouncing as she walked. She let herself into the room. Mr. McDonald looked up from where he was writing something on the blackboard.  
  
"Is there a reason you're late, Katie?" He asked her.  
  
"Yes sir." Katie mumbled, holding out the note Ms. Falconbury had given her. Mr. McDonald glanced over it, then threw it away.  
  
"Very well." He replied, going back to what he was writing. "Have a seat. We're taking notes."  
  
Katie made her way through the aisles to her seat at the back by all her friends. They all looked at her curiously.  
  
Her friend Alicia leaned over. "What happened?" She whispered.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." Katie whispered back, rolling her eyes and sighing heavily.  
  
"You'll tell us later, won't you?" Marta turned around in her seat in front of Alicia and whispered.  
  
"Ladies, there is a time to talk and a time to learn." Mr. McDonald said. "Now is the time to learn."  
  
"Yes sir." They mumbled, and they turned their attention back to copying notes into their notebooks.  
  
The door opened and Zan came in a few minutes later. Copying notes was incredibly boring, so the entire class turned their attention to the newcomer. None of them had ever quite seen a girl like her, even when they went by the public schools.  
  
"Can I help you?" Mr. McDonald asked, annoyed with so many interruptions in one day. He glared at her with his chalk poised next to the board, ready to write again.  
  
"Yeah, I'm new." Zan thrust the piece of paper Ms. Falconbury had given her at her new homeroom teacher. He took it and read it.  
  
"Class, welcome your new classmate, Alexandria Wilson." Mr. McDonald said in a flat, unfriendly voice. "Have a seat."  
  
Zan made her way to the very last seat in the last row, which was empty. Her face was hard as she shoved past the kids who couldn't stop looking at her unusual appearance. She sank into her seat, dropping her bag heavily onto the floor. Mr. McDonald continued with his teaching.  
  
Tomika had gym with Zan the next period. "Hi," She said, going up the girl. "My name's Tomika. I'm in your history class."  
  
"Good for you." Zan replied coldly, opening her gym locker and pulling out her clothes to change into.  
  
Tomika was not put off so easily. "Where'd you move from?" She asked cheerfully.  
  
"New York." Zan replied promptly, her face gaining some color as she thought fondly on her home, even though it had been on the streets.  
  
"New York? That's amazing!" Tomika gushed. "I've always wanted to go to New York. Was it nice there?"  
  
"It was great." Zan replied, finally looking at the girl she was talking to.  
  
"So what do you do in your extra time?" Tomika asked next.  
  
"Nothing." Zan shrugged. "I know how to play the guitar, but I don't do anything really with it."  
  
"You can play the guitar?" Tomika asked, her eyes lighting up.  
  
Zan gave her a funny look. "Yeah, so?"  
  
"I'm in a band, so I think anybody who plays an instrument is really cool." Tomika explained in a rushed voice.  
  
"You're in a band?" Zan asked skeptically, pulling her safety pin shirt off and putting her gray t-shirt on. "What do you play?"  
  
"Oh, I sing." Tomika said quickly, pulling her shorts on.  
  
"You sing?" Zan repeated, tying her hair back with a loose rubber band.  
  
"Yeah. Our lead singer says I sound like Aretha Franklin." Tomika said proudly.  
  
"Good for you." Zan replied, tying her chucks. She stood up. "See ya." And she brushed past Tomika and into the gym.  
  
At lunch, Zan was sitting by herself. Because she was new (and looked the way she did) not many people had made an effort to talk to her.  
  
Tomika came and sat down next to her. "Hi Alexandria!" She said cheerfully.  
  
"It's Zan." Zan corrected automatically.  
  
"Zan, then." Tomika grinned broadly. "You wanna come sit with me and my friends? There's plenty of room."  
  
"No thanks." Zan said, though she really appreciated Tomika's offer. "I think I'm just gonna go to the library and chill."  
  
"Okay. Suit yourself." Tomika shrugged. "We're always over there at that table in the corner if you wanna sit there."  
  
"I'll think about it." Zan promised. She gathered up her bag and uneaten lunch and left the cafeteria.  
  
Zan's last class of the day was music. Katie and Tomika were in there, along with a bunch of other people from her first period class.  
  
The bell rang, and Zan grabbed her stuff and bolted. Clare was waiting outside when she got there. She climbed into the front seat and shut the door.  
  
"How was your first day of school?" Clare asked cheerfully, pulling out of the drive and heading toward the elementary school to pick up Brittany.  
  
"Like hell." Zan said bitterly, peering out the window.  
  
"Watch your mouth, young lady!" Clare warned  
  
"I can't. My nose gets in the way." Zan muttered. Clare didn't hear her.  
  
"Why was it so awful, sweetie?" She asked.  
  
"Clare, let's get some things straight right now." Zan turned around and looked her step-mother in the eye. "You can never replace my mother, no matter how hard you try. So stop trying to be all buddy-buddy with me, okay?"  
  
"I'm only being nice, Zan." Clare said stiffly, her hands clenching the steering wheel. "You've had a rough life, and I thought you could use some friends."  
  
"I don't need friends." Zan said, turning to stare out the window again. "I haven't had friends for a long time, and I'm not about to start."  
  
"Well the offer still stands if you ever want it." Clare said, pulling into the elementary school.  
  
They arrived at home about fifteen minutes later. Mr. Wilson wasn't back from work yet, and Brittany had a friend over. Zan went straight up to her room and started blaring Wakefield. (AN. i LOVE wakefield!!)  
  
She didn't go down to dinner that night, claiming she didn't feel well. She went to bed early, around nine thirty. She buried her face in her black- covered pillow and cried herself to sleep.  
  
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Oops, I think I just got black nail polish on my dad's computer...I've been sitting here painting my nails...no, it came off. Thank God!! Lol! Okay, read and review!! And check out my other storiez too, okay? I've got a few that u'll prolly like if u like this one!! Okay, review cause it makes me happy!! Luvs!! 


	3. big changes

Hey hey, sry I haven't updated in sooooo long. I've been really busy with winter guard and then school and all that stuff. Now I'm sitting at home, sick and watching Anastasia on TV, so I thought I would update while I could. KK, read and review!!  
  
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Zan woke up the next morning about six o'clock. She showered and blow-dried her hair. She got dressed in a pair of baggy jeans, a bottle-cap belt, and a fitted maroon t-shirt with gold piping. Then she tied on her chucks, pulled her hair back into a ponytail with two blue streaks down framing her face.   
  
"Zan! Come on or you'll be late!" Clare called up the stairs. Zan grabbed her bag and raced downstairs. Brittany and Clare were already in the car. Zan climbed in and they were off.   
  
Zan stared moodily out the window as they drove. She kept thinking about New York. It wasn't good to brood on things, but she couldn't help it.   
  
"Did you do all your homework?" Clare asked. The question was directed at both of them, but since Brittany was in fourth grade, she didn't really expect her daughter to have any.   
  
"Yeah." Zan shrugged. She hadn't had any, so she'd done all she had to.   
  
She jumped out of the car and went inside. She still felt very conspicuous being out of uniform, but people stopped looking at her for the most part.   
  
She got her books from her locker, then went down the hall to her first period class with Mr. McDonald. She took her seat behind Tomika.   
  
"Hey Zan," Tomika grinned broadly. "You gonna sit with us today?"   
  
"Well, I might." Zan gave in, smiling despite herself.   
  
"You know Katie, right?" Tomika asked.   
  
"We've met." Katie said coldly, her eyes cold.   
  
"Yeah." Zan nodded, slightly abashed.  
  
"This is Alicia and Marta," Tomika went on. "Our other friends aren't in this class. You can meet them at lunch."  
  
"Actually, I'm never very hungry at lunch." Zan said quickly, catching the definitely negative vibe Katie was sending her way. "I won't intrude."  
  
"Oh shut up!" Katie rolled her eyes. "Just sit with us for God's sake!"  
  
"I said I'm not hungry." Zan said icily, and she turned her back on those trying to be nice to her.   
  
After school, Tomika, Alicia, Marta, Summer, and Katie waited out front of school for their friends Lawrence, Zack, and Freddy to join them.   
  
"That Zan chick is getting on my last nerve." Katie sighed heavily, pulling her scarf tighter about her neck and tossing her dark ponytail over her shoulder.   
  
"You've just got to give her a chance." Tomika said stubbornly.   
  
"She seems kind of cold and stuck up to me." Alicia shrugged. "Course I don't know her very well either."  
  
"Just give her a chance." Tomika insisted.   
  
"Give who a chance?" Zack asked as the three boys came down the steps toward them.   
  
"That new girl in our grade." Marta explained.   
  
"The one who never wears uniform and never gets in trouble for it?" Lawrence asked inquisitively.   
  
"She doesn't wear uniform because she doesn't have one yet." Tomika said. She was starting to find it annoying that everybody was dissing this girl they hardly even knew. "She said it's supposed to come in either today or tomorrow."  
  
"Come on people, come on!" Summer clapped her hands together for attention. "If we don't hurry, we're going to be late for practice!!" So they all climbed into the van, which she was now in charge of driving, and they drove to the studio.   
  
Dewy Finn was waiting for them in the practice room. He had a glum, somewhat pained expression on his face. He had aged considerably in the years that they had known him. His hair was turning gray, and he was getting wrinkles. His guitar-playing was definitely going downhill, and his voice wasn't nearly what it used to be. But despite all these things, the kids still loved him as their lead singer and guitarist.   
  
"Hey Dewey!" Freddy grinned broadly, spinning his drumsticks between his fingers.   
  
"Hey!" They all chorused.   
  
"Hi." Dewey mumbled.   
  
"Are you okay?" Alicia asked, peering closely at their older friend.   
  
"If you're sick, we need to get you to a doctor quick." Summer said bossily. "If you can't sing then we can't perform next weekend."  
  
"We can't perform next weekend anyway." Dewey sighed heavily. They all stared at him, dumb-founded.   
  
"Dewey, what's going on?" Zack demanded seriously.   
  
"Listen kids," Dewey sighed and beckoned them all closer. "I'm getting old. I can't sing or play anymore, and we all know it. I'm resigning from the band."  
  
"What!" "No!" "You can't!" "Yeah, we won't let you!" "Why?" "No way!"  
  
Dewey held up his hand and they all stopped. "My doctor thinks it'll be best for me. I'll still come to all your performances and help out and stuff, but I really need to be out of the spotlight for a while." He seemed determined to see things through his way.   
  
"But we can't have the band without you." Marta said, her lip trembling as though she was about to cry.   
  
"Yes you can!" Dewey forced a smile for their sake. "We'll hold tryouts for a new guitarist and a new lead singer. We can do with two more members, right? I mean, come on, I almost make up two!" They all forced smiles at the attempted joke. Dewey sighed again. "All right, no practice today. Go on home, kids."  
  
They all trooped dispiritedly out of the studio and sat glumly on the curb.   
  
"What are we going to do now?" Lawrence demanded.   
  
"What can we do?" Alicia muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.   
  
"I guess we'll start spreading the word around town that School of Rock is looking for a new guitarist and singer." Summer said, immediately taking charge. "We can put up fliers and hold tryouts and stuff."  
  
"It won't be the same if there's two new people in the band." Freddy shook his head, a black bandanna pulled down over his spiky blonde hair. "One I could almost handle, but two?"  
  
"What if there's some way we can get just one person instead of two?" Tomika said suddenly, her face lit with a suggestion.   
  
"What are you thinking about?" Katie demanded suspiciously.   
  
"Well, I was talking to Zan and-" Tomika began.   
  
"No!" Katie interrupted sharply. "No way! If she's in, then I'm out!"  
  
  
  
"Katie!" Marta complained.   
  
"Sorry, but I can't work with her! She's a spoiled little brat. I bet she's lived in a huge house her whole life with everything she's ever wanted!" Katie fumed. "The band wouldn't be a band at all if she was in it!"  
  
"Shut up Katie!" Tomika snapped. "You don't know what kind of life she's lived, okay? She grew up on the streets of New York, homeless!! Her mom died and that's why she came to live with her dad, who she'd never seen before in her entire life!" There was a long silence.   
  
"Well she's still stuck up and the band would be better without her." Katie said stubbornly, though she sounded a lot less sure of herself now.   
  
"But she CAN play and sing. You heard her in music class the other day." Summer said, all businesslike. "You know how Mrs. Craig makes everybody do their little music-skills test. Why don't we just let her audition. Just because she tries out doesn't mean that she'll make it."  
  
"Well…" Katie made a face. "All right, but just a try-out!"  
  
"What if she's really good though?" Zack said. "If she's good, we're going to need her Katie." She sighed bitterly.   
  
"Fine. She can be in it, but only if she's the very best we've got."   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey Zan!! Guess what!!" Tomika nearly pushed Zan over the next morning as she ran to greet the new girl. Zan had finally gotten her uniform. She was wearing fishnet stockings and black high tops, and the top part of her blouse was opened to reveal a black t-shirt underneath it. She stared with surprise as Tomika charged her.   
  
"What?" She demanded, regaining her balance. Her black book bag swung around precariously, almost knocking out a couple of younger kids.   
  
"I told you about how I was in a band, right?" Tomika gushed. Zan nodded. "Well our lead guitarist and singer is retiring, so we need a new one. We want you to try out!"  
  
"We?" Zan arched an eyebrow.   
  
Tomika blushed. "Well, I want you to. And once they hear what you can do, they'll want you to be in it too!"  
  
"Thanks, but no thanks." Zan shook her head. "I've never been big on group activities if you know what I mean." And she turned on her heel and began to walk off.   
  
Tomika stared after her, and then called, "Fine, if you don't think you can do it." It had the desired effect.   
  
Zan stopped in her tracks, then turned around very, very slowly. She narrowed her eyes on Tomika, her lips pressed into a thin line. "Fine." She muttered. "When do I try out?"  
  
"Today after school." Tomika replied. "I'll take you to the studio."  
  
"Fine." And she turned and stomped off to class.   
  
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Tomika led the way eagerly down through the studio hallways to the room where they were holding the audition. Zan followed. Despite her brave exterior, she was really very nervous. She'd never had anyone complement her talent enough to invite her to join in something like this.   
  
"Okay, those are the people you have to audition for." Tomika said, pointing through the glass window into the room.   
  
"All of them!" Zan exclaimed incredulously. "No way! I won't! I can't!"   
  
"Well, let me see what I can do." Tomika murmured. She opened the door and slipped inside. She returned a few minutes later.   
  
"Well?" Zan demanded nervously.   
  
"Only Dewey, Katie, and Summer are going to stay for your audition." Tomika explained.   
  
"Why them?" Zan was curious despite her nerves.   
  
"Well, because it's Dewey you'll be replacing if you make it, Summer's the manager, and Katie is kind of reluctant about letting you in."  
  
"She doesn't like me." Zan said flatly.   
  
"In few words, yes." Tomika nodded blandly. Then she opened the door. "Now break a leg!" And she shoved Zan in.   
  
"You must be Zan." Dewey greeted her with a wide and cheerful smile. Summer was smiling in a purely business-like manner, and Katie was sprawled in a chair, scowling.   
  
"Uh, yeah." Zan nodded, wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt.   
  
"Okay, you have a song already picked out that you can play?" Dewey asked. "Or do you want me to put in something for backup?"  
  
"Um, well do you have 'I'm Just a Girl' by No Doubt without the lyrics and guitar?" Zan asked hopefully.   
  
"Do we? Of course!" Dewey scoffed, picking through a stack of cds. He put one in and Zan began to play.   
  
Tomika hadn't been lying. Zan could definitely play, and her voice flowed just like Gwen Steffani's did in the song.   
  
"Sing something else." Dewey said in awe after she had finished.   
  
"Like what?" She asked nervously.   
  
"Evanescence." Summer said immediately. So Zan opened her mouth and sand Evanescence. (AN. Sorry, but I've had to listen to evanescence all weekend!! So many winter guards are doing their shows to that, it's exasperating!! OMG!! Venus Hum is SO much better!!)  
  
"Well, guess what." Dewey said when she'd finished. She looked up hopefully. "You're in if you want."  
  
"I am?" Zan couldn't believe it. Then she caught sight of Katie's scowling face. "Actually, I don't think I have time for a band. I'm really busy you know. Thanks for letting me audition, but I think it was a mistake."  
  
"Oh it wasn't a mistake!" Katie snapped. "You're the best we could possibly get and you're not going anywhere!"  
  
Zan smiled shyly, and Katie smiled back.   
  
"Okay, why don't you come in here and meet the others." Dewey suggested, leading her into a different room. She knew some of them; she'd seen all of them except for Freddy. He was hot!! She couldn't take her eyes off him at first, but then she forced herself to.   
  
"Now you're definitely sitting with us tomorrow!" Tomika declared ecstatically.   
  
"Well………okay!" Zan agreed, and she really meant it.   
  
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Wow, lol I'm really sorry it took me sooo long to update!! I promise it won't be so long. I've just been way busy w/ winter guard and school and all that crap. I've got practice tomorrow night so I won't post any then, but hopefully I can on Wednesday. I won't over the weekend tho, because it's going to be winterfest!!! Whooo!! I SO can't wait!! Mwuahahahaha!! Luvs!! OO and review!!! 


	4. dinner guests

Hey hey, sry it's been sooo freakin long since I've updated. Winterguard's been keeping me really busy. But my mom made me quit on Thursday, so I don't have it anymore and I'll have a lot more time to post and write and stuff. So I guess it was kinda a good thing………Okay, well at least me and my sis got to have a movie night last night. We stayed up till sometime in the morning, pigging out on ice cream and popcorn. We watched The Goonies, Freddy vs. Jason, Gremlins, and The Ring. LOL it was sooo much fun!! KK, well I'll stop rambling and just write the story, savvy??  
  
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Claire arrived to pick Zan up at the school about fifteen minutes later. Zan had had to walk back from the studio, so she had just gotten there. She climbed into the backseat and fastened her seatbelt.   
  
"Hi Claire!" Zan greeted her cheerfully, smiling broadly. "What's for dinner? I'm starving?"  
  
Claire just stopped and stared at her step-daughter for a long moment. Then she gave herself a little shake and put the car into drive. "I was thinking about pork chops and baked potatoes. Do you like pork chops?"  
  
"Of course I do!" Zan exclaimed, leaning back in her seat and looking out the window, still smiling. Claire watched her closely. Something was definitely wrong.   
  
"So, did you have a good day at school?" Claire asked, trying not to sound too terribly obvious about her prying.  
  
"Oh my god, yes!" Zan nodded fervently, leaning forward in her seat. "It was the best! This girl I know, well she's sort of my friend, and she's in a band, and the band needed a new lead singer and a new guitarist, and this girl I know that's sort of my friend wanted me to try out for it, so I did and the whole band loved me and they invited me to be in their band and I said yes and it's going to be so much fun!" She finished completely out of breath.   
  
Claire didn't say anything for a moment. Zan had been talking so fast that she hadn't understood hardly any of it! "So," She said finally, "You made some new friends?"  
  
"Yeah." Zan nodded, still grinning. "There's Tomika, and Alicia and Marta, and Summer and Katie. Then there's Zach, and Lawrence, and Freddy, but I don't know them as well."  
  
"Well I'm very glad that you've already made some friends." Claire said, and she really meant it too.   
  
"Me too." Zan agreed, tucking back her hair.   
  
"You haven't met our neighbors, have you?" Claire asked suddenly, changing the subject. Zan shook her head.   
  
"No, I don't think I have. I could have seen them and not known that they were our neighbors though." She didn't know quite what had come over her, but she couldn't stop talking. She hadn't talked this much, or this fast, since she was about eight or nine.  
  
"Well I've invited them over for dinner tonight." Claire said. "They have a son your age. Mr. and Mrs. Jones (AN. Dun-dun-dun!!!) are very nice people. I'm sure you'll love them."   
  
"I can't wait to meet them!" Zan cheered. Claire just stared at her again.   
  
Zan bounded out of the car the moment they pulled into the driveway and flew into the house. She climbed the stairs to her bedroom three at a time and flung her backpack in the far corner of her room. She changed out of her school clothes and into a pair of baggy, holey blue jeans and a tight gray t-shirt in under thirty seconds. Then she bounded back down the stairs and into the kitchen. There she made herself a cup of herbal tea and she definitely calmed down a bit after that.   
  
She went back upstairs to her bedroom and retrieved her discarded book bag. She sat down cross-legged on her bed and unzipped her backpack to do her homework.   
  
She had just finished her last bit of homework, Spanish, when Claire came to the door to get her for dinner. "Oh, have you already done all your homework?" She asked in a politely inquisitive and very surprised voice.   
  
"Yep." Zan nodded seriously. "I figure that if I'm gonna have to go to this fancy stuck-up private school, I might as well get good grades, ya know."  
  
"Sounds like a good plan." Claire replied, equally serious.   
  
"So dinner's ready?" Zan asked, not moving from her place on her bed, amid all her books and notebooks and papers and pens.   
  
"Yes, it is." Claire nodded. "Would you like to come downstairs and join us?"  
  
"Sure, I would like that a lot." Zan nodded. She rolled off her bed, not messing up a single item that was there, and she landed cat-like on her bare feet. She brushed back her hair with her hand and followed Claire down the stairs toward the dining room.   
  
There were three new people seated at the dining room table besides Zan's family. There was a man wearing a business suit, a blonde woman dressed in a cocktail dress, and a boy Zan's age. When she first walked into the room, Zan couldn't stop staring at the boy. She stared not only because he was incredibly good-looking, but because he looked terribly familiar.   
  
"Why are you staring at me, Zan?" He questioned her bluntly before Claire could begin the introductions.   
  
Zan stared at him suspiciously. "I DO know you from somewhere!" She accused. He looked at her like she was crazy.   
  
"Uh, yeah." He nodded finally. "I go to your school. I'm in your grade. I'm in your class. I'm in your band. I'm Freddy Jones."  
  
"Oh." Zan didn't know what else to say. Of course he was Freddy Jones. The hot drummer that she'd been drooling over all afternoon. Duh. "I guess I forgot." She mumbled.   
  
"Okay." He didn't seem too terribly affected by being forgotten.   
  
"Oh, so you two already know each other!" Claire said delightedly. "How wonderful. Maybe Freddy can show you around this weekend, Zan? Wouldn't that be nice?"  
  
"I'm afraid we can't do it this weekend, Mrs. Claire." Freddy said politely.   
  
"Why not, Freddy?" Mr. Jones demanded, looking at his son as though he was being horribly rude and impolite.   
  
"Because Zan and I have band practice over the weekend." Freddy explained expansively. "It will take up all of our time."  
  
"This stupid band nonsense is really starting to get on my nerves, Freddy!" Mrs. Jones said sharply, her eyes narrowed her lips pressed into a tight line. "I'm glad that you know how to play the drums, honey, but don't you think it's time to put this childish nonsense behind you?"  
  
"What?" Freddy's mouth fell open in horror.   
  
"I think we should talk about this at home, dear." Mr. Jones said softly to his wife. She sniffed disdainfully and picked up her glass.   
  
Freddy stared at her, a look of horror still etched into his handsome features. Then he shut his mouth and turned very, very pale.   
  
"May I be excused?" He murmured finally.   
  
"Me too." Zan said suddenly. "I don't feel very well."  
  
"Go ahead." Claire nodded.   
  
Zan motioned to Freddy and led the way up the stairs and down the hallway to her bedroom. He looked around when they entered, temporarily distracted from that which was causing him grief at the moment.   
  
"Nice room." He muttered.   
  
"Shut up." She said sharply, sitting down on the edge of her bed and assuming a business-like expression. "How can we make your mom change her mind?"  
  
"She won't." Freddy said glumly, turning her desk chair around backwards and straddling it. "We'd have to kill her to get her to change it."  
  
"You think that'll work?" Zan asked thoughtfully.   
  
He stared at her in horror. "That's not funny, Zan." He snapped.   
  
"I wasn't joking." She replied coldly. "This is the first time I've ever been accepted in any group, the first time I've ever had friends. I'm not going to let all that go to waste just because the drummer's mother decided it was a waste of her son's time."  
  
"You wouldn't really kill anybody, would you?" Freddy didn't seem quite so sure anymore.   
  
"Don't try me." Zan replied ominously. He just stared at her for a few more minutes. Then he shook his head.   
  
"Let's just drop it." He muttered. "We just have to give her some time. My dad won't make me quit. I'm pretty sure."  
  
"For your mother's sake, let's hope so." Zan said coldly. Freddy eyed her with dislike. He didn't know what it was about her, but she was definitely not getting on his good side. Mean girls weren't very pretty, even if they physically were. "Why are you staring at me?" She asked, giving him a funny look.   
  
"Sorry. I was just thinking about what a bitch you are." He shrugged his shoulders like it didn't matter.   
  
Zan stared at him, her mouth falling open and her eyes narrowed at him in shock. She finally closed her mouth. "What the hell are you talking about?"  
  
"Never mind." Freddy sighed wearily. "Tell my parents I went home." He rose to his feet and left her bedroom. Zan glanced out her window and watched him go next door and enter his own home.   
  
Then she flung herself facedown on her bed and buried her face in her pillow.  
  
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So ya like so far?? Well, this is like chapter 4 or something, so I hope you like it by now. Don't worry though, I'm definitely going to make Zan get nicer. I don't know why I've been making her so mean. LOL I just got the soundtrack to this movie and I'm listening to it now. It rocks!! LOL!! Okay, well it's like 9:10 or something and I've got more stories to write tonight and I have to get up and go to mass with my sister in the morning!! Luvs!! REVIEW!!!! 


	5. being accepted

Okay, since I'm on spring break, I plan on definitely updating each and every one of my stories at least twice this week. Okay, several people have asked me what Winterguard is, so I figured I would take a little time out here to explain. Well, I'm pretty sure you've all seen a marching band show before, right? You know the group of people (usually all girls) that are dressed differently from the band and have flags and swords and guns? Well that's called color guard. Winterguard is a lot like color guard except that it's in the winter instead of the summer and fall, and it's held inside in a gym instead of outside on a football field. Since winterguard is inside, you can make everything bigger because you don't have to worry about the wind. The biggest toss we had on rifle during fall was a quad, which was hard for me to do because I'm really small. My guard instructor says that my size has nothing to do with it, but…the biggest rifle toss we have in winterguard is a six. That's big. Course I wasn't on rifle in winterguard, I was on saber (which is the sword). I can throw a five on saber that I know of. I can probably throw more if I tried, but we're not supposed to try anything except our show work. Anyway, in winterguard most guards go barefoot instead of wearing ugly jazz shoes like in color guard. Your feet get so nasty and calloused, and it's like they never get clean. And you practice A LOT for winterguard. We have regular practice every Tuesday and Thursday from 6-9 at night. Every other Friday we practice from about 4 in the afternoon till about 2 or 3 in the morning. It's really tiring. There are competitions every other weekend, or at least the one's our guard is going to are. And there are several classes. We're in scholastic A, which means we're good but not the best. The open guards aren't with schools, they hold tryouts and let the really good people be in their guard. Okay, well I guess that's really all you need to know about winterguard. If you've got any other questions, just ask them in a review and I'll get around to answering them eventually. Lol!! Kay, well I'll shut up now and just let you read.  
  
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Zan woke up the next morning, glad that it was Friday. She quickly showered and blow-dried her hair. She tied it back into two braids and wore knee-high striped socks with her uniform. She felt like a little elementary school-girl, and she liked it. She didn't feel like being some big, mean, bad punk who scared everybody within a hundred miles.   
  
There was nobody downstairs when she got there. There was French toast waiting for her on the table next to a glass of orange juice. There was a note taped to the refrigerator in the kitchen. She picked it up and glanced over it.   
  
Zan, Your father is already at work and I had to get Brittany to school early. Your breakfast is waiting in the dining room. Freddy from next door is going to drive you to school. He'll come by around seven fifteen to pick you up, so be ready. With love, Claire  
  
Zan quickly put the note aside. She didn't want to ride with Freddy. She didn't even want to speak to him. He seemed to think the very worst of her. True she hadn't been very nice, but she wanted things to work out with the band so bad.   
  
She didn't eat much of her breakfast. She was putting her things away in the kitchen when somebody honked from the driveway.   
  
Zan grabbed her backpack and hurried out to the car. Freddy gave her a very weird look as she slid into the car.   
  
"Nice look." He grunted, putting the car into gear and pulling out of the driveway. Sex Pistols was blaring from his cd player.   
  
"Thanks." She told him sarcastically.   
  
"No, I really meant it." He told her honestly. "I think the braids are cute." Zan didn't know quite what to say. Was this the same guy who had called her a bitch the night before?  
  
"Listen, I'm sorry about last night. I wouldn't have really done anything to your mother, I promise." She apologized. It was hard for her.   
  
"It's okay." He told her, flashing her a sweet smile. "I kind of figured that after I thought about it for a while."  
  
"I just really want this band thing to work out." She felt like she had to continue explaining herself and her actions.   
  
He gently touched her hand and she looked at him, surprised. "It's okay, Zan, I understand." He told her gently.   
  
She blushed and looked away. She needed to say something to fill up the awful silence that had filled the car. "Do we have practice after school today?"  
  
"Nah, it's Friday." Freddy didn't seem the least bit uncomfortable being in the same car with Zan. "We have that off to go do what we want."   
  
"That's cool." Zan nodded uncomfortably, her hands resting gently in her lap. "So what are you going to do?"  
  
"I'm probably going to go to the movies or something." Freddy shrugged like it was no big deal. "What are you gonna do?"  
  
"I don't know." She shrugged. "I'll probably just stay home or something."  
  
"I'm sure you'll find something to do." He replied, pulling into the school's parking lot. He parked his car in the student parking lot and the two of them went inside.   
  
Katie met up with Zan by her locker. She was wearing flip-flops today and lots of beads and bangles. Her hair was up in a frizzy, punky style.   
  
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Katie asked, being more friendly than she ever had to Zan. She leaned against the next locker with her bag on her shoulder.   
  
"Nothing." Zan replied, wondering what had come over Katie to be nice to her.   
  
"Well, Alicia, Marta, Summer, and Tomika are all coming over to my house tonight." Katie explained. "I was wondering if you wanted to come too."  
  
"You're inviting me?" Zan turned to Katie in complete surprise.   
  
"Yeah." Katie nodded her head.   
  
Zan smiled, one of her first genuine smiles since she'd arrived there. "Yeah, yeah I'd like that a whole lot."  
  
"Great!" Katie grinned. "You can catch a ride with me on the way home if you want, or you can drive yourself if you've got a car. See you in homeroom." And she turned to leave.   
  
"Katie," Zan stopped her.   
  
"Yeah?" Katie turned around.   
  
"Thanks."  
  
Katie smiled. "You're welcome." And she threaded her way through the crowded hallways.   
  
After school that day, Zan caught up with Freddy as he was leaving the building. He looked surprised that she had stopped him.  
  
"What do you need?" He asked her, his heart speeding up a little.   
  
"Can you give me a ride home?" She asked, her voice slightly pleading.   
  
"A ride?" He repeated. That hadn't been what he expected at all. She nodded expectantly. "Well, yeah I guess."  
  
"Thanks." Zan grinned and led the way to his car in the parking lot. "Katie invited me over to her house and I have to get my things before I go."  
  
"Katie invited you over?" Freddy was slightly surprised. He remembered how angry Katie had been when Tomika had suggested that Zan be in the band.   
  
"Yeah. She's having a party with Summer, Alicia, Marta, and Tomika." Zan nodded cheerfully, climbing into his front seat. "And she invited me too."  
  
"That was very nice of her." Freddy said cautiously.  
  
"Yeah, it really was." Zan went on, not even nervous about being alone with Freddy anymore. "I know she doesn't like me very much, so it must have taken a lot of guts for her to invite me, ya know?"  
  
"You know she doesn't like you?" Freddy asked her in surprise.  
  
Zan let out a wry little laugh. "How could I miss it, Freddy?" She demanded, then she smiled at him shyly. "I really am sorry about last night."  
  
"Don't worry about it." He told her, smiling. Then he coughed nervously. "Hey, tomorrow night after practice do you want to come over and watch a movie?"   
  
"Hmmm, what movie?" Zan wasn't stupid. She knew he was asking her for a date, even if it was only to his house. She was also smart enough not to let her enthusiasm and excitement show.   
  
"I dunno, what kind of movies do you like?" He offered, getting more bold when he realized she wasn't going to say no right off just because it was him.   
  
"Funny or scary movies." She replied, resting her knees up on the black dashboard. A cartoon medallion hung around the rearview mirror, swaying back and forth. "Action too, I guess. I like almost every kind of movie."  
  
"How about Freddy Vs. Jason?" Freddy offered.   
  
"Okay, I haven't seen that yet." Zan lied. She'd seen it lots of times, but she didn't want to jinx this date.  
  
"Cool." He grinned, pulling into her driveway.   
  
"Thanks for the ride." She smiled at him, climbing out of the car. Then she leaned down to fetch her book bag. She looked up at him. "Bye!" And she shut the door.   
  
She scrambled up the steps into the house. Claire was there, and she looked startled to see Zan show up.   
  
"Zan!" She exclaimed, slapping her hand to her forehead and leaving a streak of flour on it. She was making a homemade pie. "I completely forgot to pick you up!"  
  
"It's okay." Zan said. She was in such a good mood that even that didn't dampen her spirits. "I caught a ride home with Freddy. I'm going to go spend the night at my friend's house. Is that okay?" Claire looked amazed that Zan was asking her permission.  
  
"I don't see why not." She agreed. "Do you need a ride?"  
  
"Can I just borrow dad's car?" Zan wheedled, leaning on the counter and smiling winsomely. "I have my license, and I'm a good driver."  
  
"Well, he's not here for us to ask him………" Claire said thoughtfully. Then she smiled at Zan. "I'll just tell him I gave you permission."  
  
"Thanks Claire!" Zan impulsively threw her arms around her step-mother and hugged her. "I'm going to run and get packed." And she clambered up the stairs.   
  
She changed into a pair of blue jeans with beads and patches and random strips of cloth sewed on, a fitted black t-shirt, and her low tops. She left her hair in braids, then threw her belongings into a small duffel bag. She threw it over her shoulder and ran back down the stairs.   
  
"Here are the keys, Zan." Claire nudged the keys down the counter, not wanting to get flour on them.   
  
"Thanks." Zan grinned, grabbing them up. "I'll be back sometime tomorrow after band practice. Oh, and Freddy invited me over to watch a movie tomorrow night at his house."  
  
"Freddy?" Claire seemed surprised.   
  
"Yeah." Zan grinned. "Bye Claire!" And she let herself out the door. She threw her bag in the backseat, pulled out the directions Katie had given her, and drove to the house. She parked on the street and climbed the front steps. She knocked.   
  
"Hey Zan." Katie pulled open the door and held it open so Zan could come in. "We just ordered pizza. It should be here in a little bit."  
  
"Yum." Zan said.   
  
"Come on, everybody else is in the bonus room." Katie said, leading the way up the stairs and into a huge room with tons of pillows and blankets on the floor in front of a wide-screen television set. Summer was perched on a pillow, flipping through a music magazine. Marta was watching old music videos on a special channel on TV.   
  
"Hey Zan." Marta greeted her, tossing her long blonde hair back over her shoulder. It was streaked with hot pink, which matched the pink tank top she was wearing.   
  
"Hello Zan." Summer nodded, looking up from her magazine and smiling sweetly.   
  
"Hi." Zan replied, a little nervous now that she was actually here.   
  
"You can just dump your stuff in a corner." Katie said, flopping down on the pillows next to Marta and watching the videos. Zan put her bag in the corner with the other girls' stuff. Then she sat down and started to watch.   
  
Tomika and Alicia arrived together a few minutes later, and shortly after that the pizza got there. The six girls pigged out all night long. Finally they heard Katie's parents go to bed.   
  
"Okay, now we can go." Alicia said, climbing to her feet.   
  
"Go? Go where?" Zan was instantly alert.   
  
"Rolling of course." Marta giggled. "You ever been rolling?"  
  
"No." Zan shook her head. "I know what it is, of course. But it's kind of hard to roll an entire apartment building in New York." The other girls giggled.   
  
"We'll show you what to do." Summer said importantly.   
  
"We can take my car." Tomika said. "I've already taken the license plate off just in case somebody sees us."  
  
"Who are we going to do?" Katie mused thoughtfully.   
  
"Let's do Harold Hall." Zan suggested.   
  
"Yeah, he is a big jerk." Alicia agreed.   
  
"All right, let's do it." Marta agreed, grinning broadly. They all changed into black clothing, grabbed lots of shaving cream and toilet paper, and piled into Tomika's car. Zan was squeezed in the back with Summer and Katie.   
  
It was really fun. Katie and Zan were in charge of the shaving cream, and they made little signs and markings all over the yard. The automatic garage lights flickered on as they were nearing the end of their work, and they all squealed and scrambled into the car and drove off.  
  
They stopped by Waffle House and grabbed breakfast, drinking lots of coffee and eating tons of food.   
  
Then they returned to Katie's house and fell into their sleeping bags in the bonus room, asleep in minutes.   
  
In the morning, they got up and drank a lot more coffee. Then they threw on their clothes and drove Katie's, Tomika's, and Zan's cars to the studio. They parked in the tiny parking lot and went in, most of them with circles under their eyes and still half in their pajamas.  
  
"You guys look stoned." Zach told them by way of greeting.   
  
"Thanks." Katie muttered dryly.   
  
"Welcome to your first band practice, Zan." Dewey Finn greeted her cheerfully.  
  
"Thanks." She replied, feeling kind of nervous now. Kind of? She felt like she was going to hurl every time she opened her mouth.  
  
"All right, here's the music for the song we've been working on." Dewey handed her some sheet music. She glanced it over. The lyrics were on there.   
  
"Okay." She replied, handing the sheet music back to Dewey. He looked at her like she was crazy. "I have a photographic memory." She explained, and to demonstrate she played the first verse of the song perfectly.  
  
"Sweet." Dewey flashed her a thumbs up sign.   
  
Practice went very well from there.   
  
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All right, it's not too short this time, right?? Okay, well review and I'll keep posting. Like I said, I plan on posting at least twice over spring break and it's only Tuesday!! KK, keep reviewing, savvy?? Luvs!! 


	6. the date

Kay, sorry it's taking me so long to update. I had written chapters to all my stories, and I was going to post them. But they're on my laptop and I haven't had my laptop all week long. I left it at my mom's house on accident, so I haven't had it at all. So, I'm just going to re-write the chapter I already wrote and hope it turns out the way the other one did.   
  
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Zan got in her dad's car as soon as practice was over and drove home. There was dried shaving cream in her hair, and her fingers were sore from playing guitar so long.   
  
Britney was outside in the backyard, lounging by the pool in a skimpy bikini with a bunch of her cheerleading friends. Zan ignored them completely and went straight into the house, the keys dangling from her hand.   
  
"Britney, is that you?" Claire called from the kitchen. "Come here a second and taste this chocolate cake I'm making!"  
  
"It's me," Zan said, going into the kitchen and tossing the keys down on the counter. She expected Claire to be disappointed that it wasn't her beloved daughter, but her face split into a wide smile instead.   
  
"Oh, that's even better!" She said cheerfully. "Here, come try a piece of this. Britney already knows how my cakes taste. I need a new taste-tester." And she held out a fork with a huge hunk of chocolate cake on it.  
  
Zan obediently opened her mouth and swallowed the bite. It was delicious, and very rich and creamy. The icing was even better than the cake itself.  
  
"Wow, that's amazing!" Zan declared, honestly, once she'd swallowed the sticky rich mass of chocolate.   
  
"Really?" Claire couldn't believe that Zan liked it.   
  
"Yeah, you better save me some of that for when I get back from my date." She stopped suddenly, cringing. She hadn't meant to let that little bit of information slip. It must be some kind of truth chocolate.  
  
"Date? You've got a date?" Claire seemed genuinely interested. She put the fork in the sink and wiped her hands on a dishtowel.   
  
"Well, it's not a date." Zan said quickly. "A friend just invited me over to watch a movie. It's no big deal."  
  
"That's wonderful, sweetie!" Claire said. She seemed to have forgotten that Zan had told her not to use any sweet nicknames, and Zan didn't really care at the moment. "I'm so glad you've got a date!"  
  
"It's not a date!" Zan said stubbornly.  
  
"Of course not dear." Claire smiled knowingly, and went back to cooking. "Are you going to go get ready?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm gonna take a shower." Zan said, and she escaped up the stairs to her bedroom. She stripped off her clothes, sweaty and dirty from playing in the studio all day, and threw them in the dirty clothes hamper.  
  
She shut the door to her bathroom and turned the water on. It was warm and felt good as she stepped under the spray, letting it wash over her. She chose a vanilla body-wash to use, and then some Ocean-Breeze shampoo and conditioner.   
  
She turned the water off and stepped out onto the bathmat, water dripping off her body. She wrapped a towel around her hair, then dried off with another one and padded to her bedroom.   
  
She pulled on her underwear and took the towel off her hair. She combed through it, and then stood in front of her closet with absolutely no idea what to wear. She wondered if it was always this hard when you had so many clothes.  
  
Since it wasn't really an actual 'date' and they weren't going anywhere, she couldn't really dress up. But it would seem insensitive if she didn't at least try to make herself look different than the way she always did.  
  
Then again, if he liked her, he liked her for the way she always was. If he couldn't appreciate her for who she was, then she didn't want him anyway.  
  
With that thought firmly in her mind, she chose a pair of baggy blue jeans, a pair of hot pink low-tops, and a hot pink tank-top with black lace edges. She blew-dried her hair and pulled it back into two braids. Then she did her makeup the way she usually did.  
  
When she was done, she shoved her house keys (on a long key-chain) into her pocket and went down the stairs.   
  
Claire was still in the kitchen when she got there. She was making a pitcher of iced tea. She stopped what she was doing and looked over at her step-daughter. "Is that what you're wearing?" She asked simply.  
  
"Yes." Zan's tone was slightly defensive.  
  
"You look nice, sweetie." Claire murmured, and she went back to stirring her tea. "What time will you be home?"  
  
"I dunno. Late." Zan shrugged, leaning against the door frame. "I've got my house keys so you guys don't have to wait up."  
  
"Have a good time." Claire called.  
  
Wait, wasn't there supposed to be more to it than that? Zan shrugged. If Claire didn't want to interrogate her, then that was fine. She grunted a goodbye and left the house through the front door.  
  
She walked across the yards to Freddy's house. Her heart began to pound as she climbed up the wooden steps and stood on his front porch. She reached up and pressed her black-nailed finger into the doorbell. It rang loudly.   
  
The door opened almost immediately. Zan got the oddest impression that Freddy had been waiting for her, and that made her relax at once.   
  
"Hey Zan." He smiled. He had a cute smile, she had to admit.   
  
"Hi." She replied, hooking her thumbs through her belt-loops and trying to appear casual. They stood there for a minute.  
  
"Uh, you want to come in?" He asked after a minute, realizing that he had invited her over and then was not letting her in.  
  
"Sure." She smiled despite herself. He really was a nervous wreck. She wondered if all guys were like that. She'd never really had the chance to meet normal guys before.  
  
Freddy stepped aside and Zan entered. She followed him down a hallway to their den. It had a couch set up before a huge wide-screen TV. The house was almost identical to hers. "You want something to drink or eat?"  
  
"Um, a bottle of water would be nice." She said, sinking down on the couch. It was comfortable, more comfortable than her dad's and Claire's.  
  
"Okay." He disappeared into the kitchen, and returned a minute later with a canned soda, a bottle of water, and a rented movie. He tossed her the bottle of water, then put the DVD into his DVD player and pressed play.  
  
He settled down on the couch next to her.  
  
Things were a little tense at first. Zan could tell that Freddy was nervous, and she was nervous too.   
  
The first time one of the really scary parts came on, Zan screamed and grabbed his arm. He grinned at her. He knew it was a fake scream, but he didn't mind. It was a silent offer, and he took it. He pretended to stretch and draped his arm over her shoulders.  
  
She smiled to herself and snuggled up closer.   
  
They watched Gothika after Freddy Vs Jason.   
  
Freddy walked Zan to the door about one in the morning.   
  
"I had a good time." She told him.   
  
"Yeah, me too." He agreed, smiling down at her. He was a good head taller.  
  
She lowered her voice a little. "This doesn't change anything, right Freddy?" She demanded. "Just because we watched a couple of movies together doesn't mean anything is different."  
  
"Right." He agreed, even though they both wished it could be.  
  
"Good." She forced a smile. She waved, then headed back to her own house.  
  
Even though she'd had a very good evening, she had a lot of trouble falling asleep that night.  
  
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kay, this chappie didn't really have any purpose except to show that everything is not well in Freddy-and-Zan-Land. I'm watching Fried Green Tomatoes as I write this, but don't worry, none of that is influencing my writing.........I hope.........kay, well I gotta run so I guess just review and all will be well. 


	7. second date

Hey hey. Sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I………um………kind of got banned from posting for a while cough cough I wrote a story about real people and apparently that's against the rules. So I got banned. shrugs okay, well I'm updating all my stories now. So read and review, and hopefully we'll always be happy ……… kay  
  
Zan unlocked the back door and let herself into the kitchen. She tossed her keys onto the counter and hung her coat up on the rack. The light above the sink was on, and there was a slice of cake on the table with a fork and a glass of cold milk.   
  
Though it was a simple gesture, it touched Zan. She sat down and ate the entire slice of cake. Then she climbed the stairs and went to bed.   
  
Claire was awake and making breakfast in the morning when Zan came downstairs, wearing an extra long t-shirt that had belonged to her mother before she'd died.   
  
"Good morning, sweetie," Claire greeted her, glancing up from the stove where she was cooking. "How was your evening?"  
  
"It was okay." Zan replied, opening the refrigerator door and pulling out the carton of milk from the top shelf.   
  
"Okay? It was only okay?" Claire actually sounded worried. She glanced up from her cooking. "Did everything go all right?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah it was nice." Zan replied distractedly, pouring herself a glass and putting the milk back into the refrigerator.  
  
"Nice? Just nice?" Claire demanded, holding her spatula like it was some kind of dangerous weapon. "Do you want to talk about it or anything?"  
  
"No, no. It was great. I had an awesome time. I'm fine." Zan assured her hurriedly, and she escaped up the stairs to her room.  
  
She showered quickly and got dressed. Then she opened her drapes to let the sunlight pour into her dark room. She sat down on her bed with her guitar and practiced a bit on the songs she'd learned at practice the previous day.  
  
She glanced up out her window once. Freddy was in his bedroom, watching her. She smiled and went over to her window. She pushed it up and perched on the windowsill, letting the breeze blow through her hair.   
  
"Hey. You just get up?" She called good-naturedly to him.  
  
He grinned back at her. His hair was sticking up everywhere, a clear indication that her guess was right. "About five minutes ago." He conceded.   
  
"When's our next practice?" She asked next, allowing the wind to whip her hair against her face. Her eyes shone through her hair.   
  
"I………uh………" Freddy was suddenly finding it hard to concentrate on what she had just asked him. With the light shining off her hair that way, she looked just like an angel………an angel of death. What was he thinking? "Monday."   
  
"Cool." She grinned, brushing her hair back. She glanced up at him. "I've been practicing a lot on the songs we were practicing."  
  
"Do you want to go out to dinner tonight?" Freddy offered before he could actually consider the realization of his offer or think about it rationally.   
  
Zan gave him a pained look. "Freddy, I thought that we agreed that our watching the movies didn't change anything between us."  
  
"It's not a date," Freddy said scathingly, even though it had been. "I was suggesting that we go just as friends."   
  
Zan smiled knowingly. She knew that he wanted to go on a date with her, and he didn't really mind. "All right, Freddy. Dinner tonight sounds great."  
  
Freddy grinned. "All right. I'll pick you up at six." He told her, running his hands through his hair. "How does that sound?"  
  
"Awesome." She smiled. "See you tonight." She winked, then climbed back in her window. She shut the window and drew the drapes.  
  
Someone knocked on her door as she turned around. Without waiting for her to answer, Brittany opened the door and came in. She was wearing cheerleading shorts and a cheerleading tank top. "Mom sent me to get you for breakfast."  
  
"All right, I'm coming." Zan replied cheerfully, tucking her loose hair back behind her many pierced ear.   
  
Brittany regarded her step-sister with a weird look. "What's wrong with you?" She demanded, sticking one hip out cockily.  
  
"Nothing." Zan replied, smiling warmly and ruffling Brittany's hair fondly. "I'm just in a good mood. Let's go grab some breakfast."   
  
So the two of them went downstairs and sat down at the breakfast table. Claire set plates of food down in front of them.  
  
"Well, you're in a pleasant mood this morning, Zan." Claire said cheerfully as she and her husband sat down with their daughters.   
  
"I am." Zan nodded, smiling.  
  
"Well, that's good." Claire smiled, pouring orange juice for everybody. "Zan, do you like steak? Your father's grilling steaks for dinner."  
  
"Oh, I'm, uh, actually not going to be here for dinner tonight." Zan admitted, pushing her waffle around on her plate with her fork.  
  
"Where will you be?" Her dad demanded, setting his fork and knife down and fixing his daughter with a firm stare.   
  
"I'm, um, going out to dinner." Zan replied, squirming in her seat uncomfortably. She took a long sip of orange juice.  
  
"With who?" Her father demanded.  
  
"A friend."  
  
"Is this friend a boy or a girl?"   
  
"A boy." Now Zan was really starting to get uncomfortable. She squirmed some more in her seat and glanced around nervously.  
  
"Do I know this boy?" Her father demanded, his eyes growing hard as he thought about his daughter going out on a dinner date.   
  
"God, he's just a friend. It's not like it's a date or anything." Zan dropped her unused fork and knife onto her plate with a clatter.  
  
"Just tell me who it is." Her father replied calmly.  
  
"It's none of your business!" Zan snapped, and she ran upstairs.   
  
She ran out to meet Freddy before he could ring the doorbell and alert her dad and her step-mom that he was there.  
  
"What's your hurry?" Freddy asked as she climbed into the front passenger seat of his car and he drove off.   
  
"My dad went ballistic on me." Zan made a face. "Come on. Let's just get out of here, okay?"  
  
"Okay." Freddy agreed, and they turned off their street.   
  
Okay, I know this is a pretty short chappy but ya know, ya'll will have to get over it because it was a slightly important chapter in the Freddy-and-Zan romance………I guess. Okay, luvs and review for me. Byeness 


	8. strange things

All right, I really am sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I've been kind of busy for awhile. First I had to take driver's ed. Then I got a new boyfriend so I spent practically every waking moment on the phone with him. Then I was going on dates with them. Then my mom's family came and stayed for about a full week with us. Then I threw a party for one of my best friends, Erin. It was a fun party. And I'm going out of town the day after tomorrow, so I won't be able to post then!! I've been busy……… Okay, well I guess I'll just shut up now and write the next chapter!!

Freddy pulled into the parking lot of an out-of-the-way pizza parlor. There were very few cars sitting in the lot.  
  
"What is this place?" Zan demanded, climbing out of the car and shouldering her purse. She tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.   
  
"Manny's." Freddy replied, leading the way up the sidewalk and holding open the door for her. "It's got the best pizza in America, but not many people know about it." (AN. There really is a Manny's pizza place, it's close to where my dad works. I HATE pizza, but I LOVE Manny's!! It's really awesome!!)   
  
"Mmm." Zan murmured, going inside. The restaurant was small and dark, lit by low hanging lamps. It smelled of pizza, and there was a low mumble of people talking from the dining area.  
  
"Can I help you?" A twenty-something year old guy asked them from behind the counter.   
  
"What do you want?" Freddy motioned for Zan to order first.   
  
She stepped up the counter, glancing over the menu. "I'll have two pieces of pepperoni and sausage." She ordered. "And a cup of ice water."  
  
"And I'll have two slices of supreme and a coke to drink." Freddy ordered, pulling out his wallet. "And it's for here." (AN. Manny's is always really busy for lunch, and even though this isn't lunch, you always have to specify if your order is to go or not.) He paid.  
  
"You can't pay for my food." Zan told him seriously, pulling her wallet out of her purse. It was hot-pink with a cat's face on the front, and on the inside it said MEOW. (AN. That's what my wallet looks like!!)  
  
"Too late." Freddy told her, taking the two cups that the guy had handed them and going over to the drink machine. "I already did."  
  
"Freddy!" Zan protested, smiling despite herself. She took her cup from Freddy and got her ice and water from the machine.   
  
"What?" He gave her an innocent look, and she had to smile. He was just too darn cute!! They made their way back into the dining area and found a booth.   
  
"So, have you finished your homework for school tomorrow?" Zan asked conversationally, sipping on her drink.   
  
"Most of it." Freddy shrugged, fiddling with the napkin. Now that they were actually on a real date, they didn't know what to say. "What about you?"  
  
"No, but I'll do it tonight or tomorrow morning." Zan had never taken a lot of time to do her homework. She just didn't bother.   
  
"So………" Freddy drawled out.   
  
"So………" Zan repeated.   
  
"Here's your pizza." The guy from behind the counter appeared, carrying their pizza on a big round tray that he carried with one hand.   
  
"Thanks." Both Freddy and Zan said at once, accepting their pizza gratefully. Not only were they hungry, if they were eating, they wouldn't be expected to make small talk.   
  
Unfortunately, it doesn't take a long time to eat pizza. Pretty soon, they were both done and they were sitting there awkwardly once more.   
  
"You're right, this place is really good." Zan commented as they sat their in the dim light, the babble of voices all around them.   
  
"Yeah, me and the others in the band come here a lot." Freddy said. "I'm surprised that some of them aren't here tonight." He was actually glad that none of them were there, because they would have given him a hard time about Zan.   
  
"That's cool." Zan felt a little awkward. She had hoped that Manny's could become hers and Freddy's special place, but if it was a band place, then it wasn't special anymore.   
  
"Do you want some ice cream or something?" Freddy offered as they got to their feet and made their way to the front door.  
  
"Yeah, ice cream sounds great." Zan agreed, flashing him a smile that he found completely irresistible. He would never have admitted that, however.   
  
"So what's your favorite color?" Freddy quizzed her as they strolled down the street toward the ice cream parlor on the far corner.   
  
"Black and hot-pink." Zan replied promptly, her hands stuck in her back pockets as they walked. "I've never been able to decide between the two. You?"  
  
"Blue and black." Freddy replied as they entered the ice cream parlor. It was freezing inside. "I'm like you; I can't decide."  
  
"Can I help you?" The girl behind the counter asked politely, her little Maggie Moo's hat perched cockily over her ponytail.   
  
"Um, yeah, I'd like a waffle cone dipped in chocolate, with peanut butter ice cream." Zan said, holding up two fingers. "Two scoops." (AN. That's what I always get at Maggie Moo's! You'd think peanut butter ice cream would be disgusting, but it's almost even better than Baskin Robins chocolate fudge ice cream!!)   
  
"And for you?" The girl asked Freddy, moving to make Zan's ice cream cone. Zan shivered uncontrollably. She wished the girl would hurry.  
  
"Um, I'll have two scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream in a regular waffle cone." Freddy ordered, pulling out his wallet.  
  
But Zan jumped on the chance. She paid for the ice cream before he even had a chance to produce any bills.   
  
"Zan!" He protested good-naturedly.  
  
"You paid for dinner," She told him pointedly, taking her ice cream cone from the girl. "The least you can do is let me pay for dessert."  
  
"If you insist." Freddy shrugged, taking his cone. Together, they left the ice cream parlor. The air outside was much warmer.   
  
"So, what's your favorite book?" Zan asked conversationally as they strolled along, licking their ice cream cones.  
  
"Hmmm," Freddy personally didn't like to read, so it was a tough question. "I really like the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket." He said.  
  
Zan nodded. "I've read those." She said "They're pretty good. I think Lemony Snicket is a funny author."  
  
"What about you?" Freddy asked as they neared Manny's once more. "What's your favorite book, huh?"  
  
"That's easy." Zan said lightly. "Anything by David Eddings. He's my favorite author." (AN. David Eddings is, in my humble opinion, the best author in the entire world. I've read almost every book he's ever written and loved every single one of them!!) "What about your favorite movie?" She asked next.   
  
"My favorite movie………" Freddy paused, thinking. "I have to say Ghost Ship or Thirteen Ghosts." He admitted. (AN. Ghost Ship is one of my favorite movies in the entire world!! I love the part at the beginning where everybody gets cut in half. But does anybody besides me think it's weird that everybody gets cut in the middle, but the captain that the little girl is dancing with gets cut in the head? I think that's just a bit weird………) "What about you?"  
  
"I have two." Zan admitted. "The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Rocky Horror Picture Show." (AN. Those are my two favorite movies.)   
  
They had reached Manny's once more, so they climbed into Freddy's car and they started back toward their houses. Freddy pulled into his driveway a little bit later, after they had both finished their ice cream.   
  
"I'll walk you home." He told her generously.   
  
"Kay. Thanks." Zan would never admit it, but she didn't want their date to end. She was having a good time.   
  
They climbed the front steps of her porch and stood in front of the door, in the dim light from the floodlights.   
  
"Well, thanks for dinner Freddy." Zan said, looking nervously at the toes of her black low tops. "I had a really good time."  
  
"I did too." Freddy mumbled. Then, without warning at all, he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Zan felt her heart start pounding, but she kissed him back.   
  
Then he broke the kiss, turned, and hurried back to his own house. Zan stared after him in the darkness, then turned and went inside.Hey hey, I know this chapter was kind of short, but I think it was rather important, don't you?? Anyway, review for me because you love me (I hope!!) and I'll be back in a week so I can update more. I'll have my laptop with me when I go on vacay, but I don't know if I'll be able to get online to post any more updates!! Okay, I'll shut up now!! Just press that adorable little button down there below what I'm writing right now, even though it's not there just now……… it'll be there eventually!!! Okay, luvs, hugs, and kisses!!! 


	9. feelings

Okay, I am really and truly sorry for all the time I've been putting off updating. I had plenty of time when I got back from Florida to update. I mean, I got back like two weeks ago!! I just, got busy hanging with my sister and stuff. My sister and I (surprisingly) get along most of the time. And my birthday is coming up!! Yay!! In one month I will be sixteen!! I am so excited!! So you better give me bunches of reviews for my birthday!! grins Okay, I know I know. I'll shut up now and just let you read.   
  
Zan couldn't sleep at all that night as she thought back on Freddy's kiss. It had been such a nice kiss, and he had been suitably nervous. If a guy was too confident about his ability, she had decided, it was a definite turn-off.   
  
She finally fell asleep around two thirty. She woke up at five the next morning and realized that she wouldn't get any more sleep that night.   
  
She dragged herself into her bathroom and took a freezing cold shower, which seemed to partially restore her awareness. Then she threw on some clothes, combed through her hair, and went downstairs.   
  
She poured herself a cup of coffee, then returned to her room to tune her guitar, which had been complaining of neglect the past couple of days. (AN. No her guitar is not actually alive. But, if you have ever had an instrument, you will know that you consider that instrument your baby and you THINK it talks to you sometimes……… or maybe that's just me………) She sat down on the end of her unmade bed in front of the open window and casually strummed her guitar.  
  
Freddy appeared at his window. He looked as though he hadn't slept at all the night before either. Unlike Zan, he opted to pretend the kiss hadn't happened at all.  
  
"Isn't it a bit early to be practicing, Zan?" He demanded, a smile twitching on his lips. His lips had tasted so sweet…  
  
Zan shook her head of those annoying thoughts. "You always need to practice." She maintained stubbornly.  
  
"No argument there." He said, casually watching as the breeze gently played with her long silky locks. It was tantalizing to him, who had thought of nothing else all night long.   
  
"I can't believe we have to go to school today." Zan complained good-naturedly, setting her guitar aside and perching on the window sill. "I got no sleep last night at all."  
  
"Then why are you up so early?" He demanded smugly.  
  
"I couldn't sleep." She shrugged, her eyes growing thoughtful. Freddy, sensing what she was about to say, steered the conversation to another topic.  
  
"Did you ever finish your homework?" He asked.  
  
She blinked as though that wasn't what she was expecting him to say. Then she shook her head. "No. I guess I better do that since I have some extra time."  
  
"Mmkay. Have fun." He waved and was about to go back into the sanctuary of his bedroom when she stopped him.  
  
"Freddy!" She called. He turned around, wary of what she was going to say.  
  
"Yeah?" He asked.  
  
"Can you give me a ride to and from school today?" She asked hopefully. "Claire's really nice and all, I just don't like having to get rides from her."  
  
"Yeah," Freddy agreed awkwardly. "No problem. Meet me in my driveway at seven."  
  
"Kay." She waved and went back into her room, shutting the window. She'd known that he would agree. She may as well have not even asked him.   
  
She pushed these thought out of her brain and settled down on her messy bed with her put-off homework.   
  
Claire was surprised to see Zan up and working on something when she came to get her step-daughter for breakfast. Usually Zan was still asleep at breakfast time.  
  
"You're up early." Claire commented mildly.  
  
Zan glanced up from her homework. "Couldn't sleep." She shrugged indifferently.  
  
"Breakfast is ready." Claire told her gently.  
  
"I figured as much." Zan muttered, setting her almost complete homework aside and following her step-mother down the stairs and into the dining room.   
  
After breakfast, Zan finished up what was left of her homework. Then she packed up her bag and went back to the kitchen. Claire was finishing up dishes.   
  
"I'm almost done in here, and then we'll leave for school." She said, putting another plate in the dishwasher.  
  
"Um, actually, Freddy is giving me a ride to school." Zan said quickly. "And he's bringing me back home too. So you don't have to worry about it."  
  
Claire straightened up and fixed her step-daughter with a stern, suspicious look. "What's going on Alexandria?"  
  
Zan winced at the use of her full name. "There's nothing going on, Claire. Freddy and I are in a band together, and we're pretty good friends. He lives right next door. There's no reason he shouldn't give me a ride to school."  
  
Claire still looked doubtful. "Be careful." She warned as Zan escaped out the door.   
  
Freddy, wearing his uniform in a delightfully punkish way, was waiting for her by his car.   
  
"I'm sorry I'm a little late." She apologized, even though she was right on time. "Claire was being weird again this morning."  
  
"Nah, don't worry about it." Freddy assured her, sliding in behind the wheel. "I was early."  
  
"I noticed that too." Zan admitted, climbing into the passenger's seat. She settled her book bag between her feet and turned to look at Freddy as he pulled down their street.  
  
He caught her looking and made a funny face. "What are you staring at?" He demanded in a joking voice.   
  
"You." She replied promptly, honestly, and seriously. Freddy was taken aback. He had expected her to answer with a funny, witty comeback. She just kept surprising him over and over again. He never knew what to expect anymore.  
  
He fell into an uncomfortable silence. This agitated Zan.  
  
"Don't you want to know why I am staring at you?" She prompted, her dark hair falling over her slender shoulder.   
  
"Ummm…" Freddy gulped. He knew what she wanted him to say, and he didn't particularly want to say it.   
  
"I'm sure you do, right?" She urged him.   
  
"Yeah, I want to know why you're staring at me." He said with sinking spirits. He hated to talk about things like this.  
  
"Because I'm trying to figure out why you kissed me." Her voice held a slight edge in it. Freddy cringed inwardly.   
  
"Listen, I'm sorry about that." He began to apologize.  
  
"Don't apologize," She reprimanded him sharply. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and she was serious. "Don't regret the things you've done, but those you did not do." (AN. Line out of empire records, the BEST movie ever made!! If you've never seen it, I suggest renting it and watching it immediately!!)   
  
Freddy hoped that her refusal of his apology was an invitation to drop the subject, but he should have known better.   
  
"Well?" She demanded, her voice imperious for somebody who grew up on the streets of New York. "Are you going to tell me why or not?"  
  
"There's not really a why." Freddy lied.  
  
"Of course there is!" She exclaimed in exasperation, throwing her hands up. "There's always a why, Freddy!"  
  
"There might be a why," he conceded finally. "But I don't know it."  
  
"Excuse me?" This was NOT the answer she'd been expecting. She'd imagined a million answers to that question, but this was not any of them.   
  
"I don't know why I kissed you," He admitted. "It was just sort of a spur of the moment thing. It popped into my head 'you should kiss her goodnight' and so I did."  
  
"You mean you hadn't thought about it before?" Zan asked, her brick wall slipping down so that he caught sight of her true emotions.   
  
He suddenly realized why she was so insistent to know his answer as to why he had kissed her. She was self-conscious. Always hiding her feelings, it took something intense like this to get to her true nature.   
  
"Of course I'd thought about it before." He answered honestly, knowing what she wanted to hear now.   
  
"What?" She blinked. He was confusing her emotion-filled mind. She wasn't used to anybody being able to do this to her.   
  
"Well of course I'd thought about kissing you before." Freddy repeated, turning into the school's entrance.   
  
"You had?" Zan demanded.   
  
"Well yeah. Why wouldn't I?" He shrugged, turning his car into the parking lot. "I mean, you're fun to be around, you're pretty, you're usually sweet when you're not trying to kill anybody."  
  
She blushed and looked away, smiling at the compliments.   
  
"Honestly, Zan, why wouldn't ANYBODY want to kiss you?" He demanded. He knew what he was supposed to do. He didn't know how he knew, but he DID know.   
  
He parked his car, took her face in his hands, and brought her lips to his. His kiss was gentle and lingering, and Zan was eternally grateful to him for that.   
  
He pulled away, his face inches from hers. "I DO like you, Zan. As more than just friends. You know that, right?"  
  
Wordlessly she nodded.   
  
He smiled. He wasn't going to press her to return the affection just yet. She was too mixed up, and he realized that.  
  
"Come on, let's go in." He said, reaching for his car door handle.   
  
Zan grabbed him before he reached it and pressed her lips to his forcefully, crushing her lip-stick free lips to his. Her hands entwined around his neck, drawing him closer.  
  
Freddy smiled into the kiss, snaking his arms around her slender waist as they made out. It was even better in real life than he'd imagined it.  
  
A knock on the window brought them out of their make-out session. Both looked up, equally startled, at Tomika's grinning face through the window. They hurriedly scrambled out of the car with their bags.  
  
"It's not what it looks like, Tomika, I swear!" Zan lied desperately, breathing heavily as she shouldered her backpack.   
  
Tomika grinned knowingly. "Don't worry. I won't tell." She winked. "Are you guys ready to go in, or should I give you some more time?"  
  
Freddy lightly punched her playfully. She laughed.   
  
I know I know, not what you were expecting, right?? Or………maybe it was………oh well. I'm not going to claim to be telekinetic (in real life at least LOL) So, I hope you review for me because it will make me happy for my upcoming birthday!! Okay, luvs, hugs, and kisses!! 


	10. superstition

Okay, I don't know if anybody still reads this story anymore because I have not updated it in over six months. The last time I posted, I said that it was a month until my sixteenth birthday. It is now eight months after my sixteenth birthday, four till my seventeenth. Hey! I'm going to be seventeen in fourth months! Wow! Anyway, I'm going to try to keep this thing updated from now on, okay? So if you like it, keep up with it because I'm certainly going to try.

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One day, about two and a half weeks later, Zan walked into the studio with Tomika and Summer and stopped short. All of the instruments had been cleared out of the way, but into storage closets or something. Fabric was everywhere, along with sewing machines and measuring tapes and pincushions stuck full of pins.

"What's going on?" Zan asked in confusion, dropping her messenger bag by the door beside Katie's cherry red backpack.

"We're getting new uniforms." Alicia explained, pushing her glasses up on her nose. "Didn't Dewey tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Zan was feeling stupid now for being left out of something that was obviously important.

"He figured that since the band had a new style, namely you, we should get new uniforms. We've basically been using the exact same uniform since we were in fourth grade." Zach explained.

"They still fit?" Zan asked stupidly.

There was a long pause as everybody debated whether to start laughing or not. Finally, Marta said sweetly, "We got them in bigger sizes every year."

"Oh. So what's wrong with them? I saw what they looked like and I thought they were awesome." Zan pointed out.

"They're boring now." Marta shrugged, unbuttoning her uniform blazer and tossing it on top of her backpack. "It seems like I've been wearing a blue jumper with STEP OFF on it my entire life."

"It's a cute jumper though." Zan murmured, untying her necktie and kicking her chucks off.

"Okay everybody!" Dewey sauntered into the room. There was a short, somewhat chunky boy from their school following him. "Zan, this is Billy. Billy is our stylist."

"I'm only doing the measurements." Billy rolled his eyes. "Dewey won't let me do anything else."

"There's a good reason for that." Freddy looked up from where he was untying his sneakers. He and Katie both snickered.

"Okay, let's see, who's first?" Billy mused thoughtfully.

After he had fully measured each and every one of them, practice time was almost over. Dewey gathered them together for a meeting real quick.

"Okay, as you know, our first performance since Zan joined us is a week from Saturday. The costumes should be done by then." Dewey said. "Now remember, there's no need to be nervous. Everything is going to go perfectly."

Zan's face paled when she heard these words. She was incredibly superstitious, and she knew that saying everything would go perfectly was just saying that it wouldn't. She gulped visibly.

"You okay?" Freddy asked her as everybody gathered their things together and headed out into the parking lot.

Zan wiped the terrified look off her face and nodded, forcing a smile. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. No worries. Come on, let's go. I'm starving."

She was unusually silent on the way home. Generally she talked Freddy's ear off, but she hardly said two words to him.

Freddy had a tendency to speed, so he was going sixty in a forty-five mph zone. When the black cat darted out in front of his car, he didn't even see it.

"Look out!" Zan screamed, clawing at her face in horror. Freddy slammed on the brakes and the car did a 360 in the middle of two lanes of traffic. They finally came to a rest, with the smell of burning rubber all around them. Zan's chest heaved as she threw open the car door and jumped out.

The cat was slinking off into the woods on the other side of the street. The black cat.

She climbed back into the car and sank very low in her seat. She didn't say another word until they pulled into Freddy's driveway.

"See you tomorrow." She said shortly, and she was out the door and up the steps to her house before he could say anything.

The next night, Friday, she was sitting at her desk doing her weekend homework. She had candles burning on her desk as she was working. She felt something on her arm and looked down. A tiny black spider was crawling down her arm.

She squirmed and jumped. The spider tumbled off into the candle. She let out a small shriek and tried to save the spider, because everybody knew it was bad luck to fry a spider. But the spider was gone. It curled up in a little ball and began to smoke. She hurriedly blew out all the candles.

Sunday afternoon, as she was getting her things together for school the next day, she picked up a compact mirror off her dresser that Clare (it's spelled Clare not Claire. I've kind of gone back and forth on how to spell it but just for your knowledge, it's Clare.) had bought for her right after she'd moved in.

She carried it down the hallway from her backpack to her purse so she could keep it on hand should she need it. She was trying to shove it into a side pocket, but the pocket was very full. Without warning, the mirror popped out and fell. It hit the hardwood flood with a sickening thud and shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Wednesday during dinner, Brittany asked Zan to pass the salt for her fried potatoes. Zan reached for the salt, but her numb fingers accidentally knocked the glass salt container over. A small handful of salt spilled out onto the table.

"Oops. What a mess!" Clare said lightly, and she had scooped up the spilled salt and thrown it in the garbage can before Zan could throw it over her shoulder.

Zan just stared at the spot on the table where the salt had been spilled. Not a grain remained. What a bad sign…

She just knew the performance on Saturday would go horribly. How could it not with all these bad omens?

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Kind of a pointless chapter, but I have to get back into the swing of this story since I haven't written on it in like eight months. Anyway, review! Because reviews make me happy, okay?


	11. performing

Okay, really working on keeping this updated! I had guard camp the past couple days though, so that's an excuse for THAT time anyway. Okay, I don't own anything in this story except for the people and things that not actually in the movie School of Rock. Just making sure we're clear on that and all. Okay, on with the story!

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Saturday came all too soon for Zan. She woke up at five o'clock in the morning, feeling butterflies already in her stomach. She pulled on a pair of black shorts and a white sports bra and left the house through the front door.

She listened to music on the IPOD her dad had bought her recently so she didn't have to listen to all the unnerving thoughts tumbling around inside her head. She ran about three miles, longer than she'd run in a while.

Freddy was sitting in his window, drumming on a practice pad on his lap, when she came back up their street toward her house. She was hot and sweaty, her thick hair stuck to her forehead and the back of her neck. She had sweat streaming down her chest, and down her abs too.

Freddy saw her, grinned broadly, and waved. "Hey Zan!" He called, softly, because it was still early and he didn't want to risk waking anybody up.

"Hey." She called back, shoving her hair back off her shoulders. She was breathing heavily, panting with her mouth wide open like a dog.

"You okay?" He called down to her, his brow furrowing. In all the time since he had first met her, he had never known her to go running.

"Yeah!" She smiled, and it was at least partially genuine. She loved that he worried about her so. "I'm fine. Why don't you come over for breakfast?"

"That sounds great." Freddy grinned. To be perfectly honest, he and Zan hadn't done anything in the way of a date or even a semi-date in a couple weeks. "What time?"

"Dunno. I'll call you when Clare tells me." Zan called back up to him, her hand resting on the doorknob of the front door.

"Kay." He waved. She waved back and disappeared into her house.

After a quick, cold shower, Zan pulled on a pair of baggy white pedal pushers and a bright red razor-back tank top that was really quite sporty. She pulled a pair of white ankle socks on and padded barefoot over to the window of her room. Freddy wasn't there anymore.

She hurriedly dried and straightened her hair, then pulled it back into a loose braid. She went downstairs. Nobody was up yet. She didn't blame them. It was seven fifteen on a Saturday morning. She settled down on the sofa and began flipping through channels. She settled on I LOVE THE EIGHTIES on VH1.

"You're up early." Clare commented when she came downstairs half an hour later. She was dressed in pressed khakis and a designer blouse, just the way she always was. Zan was surprised to find that it didn't bother her so much anymore.

"Couldn't sleep." She admitted, turning the volume down a few notches. "Too excited about the show tonight."

"I can't wait." Clare smiled encouragingly, going into the kitchen to start fixing breakfast.

Zan blinked. The thought that her dad and Clare and Brittany might be coming to see her perform hadn't even crossed her mind. She flicked off the television and followed her step-mother into the kitchen.

"You're coming?" She knew she couldn't hide the surprise from her voice, so she didn't even try.

"Of course." Clare smiled graciously. "We wouldn't miss it for the world."

Then Zan felt genuinely ungrateful and selfish for being so snobbish and distant with her dad and step-mom. "Hey Clare, can I help you?" She asked cautiously, hardly daring to be hopeful.

Now it was Clare's turn to be taken completely by surprise. "You want to help me make breakfast?" She demanded incredulously. Zan nodded vehemently. A broad and genuine smile spread across Clare's face. "Of course. I would love to have your help."

Zan called Freddy's house as Clare began setting the table. He picked up on the third ring, obviously waiting for her call. "Hey."

"Hey. Breakfast is ready." Zan informed her, twirling the phone cord around her index finger girlishly. Then she noticed she was doing it and stopped.

"Kay. I'll be over in a second." He hung up, and Zan watched out the front door as he walked over.

After breakfast, they went upstairs to Zan's room to chill. They had to leave the door open, her dad's rules, but they didn't mind. They didn't plan on doing anything that required privacy anyway.

"You still nervous?" Freddy asked sympathetically, lying on his back on her bed and flipping through a Rockin' Weekly magazine.

"You know, I'm really not. I guess there's nothing I can do about it anymore." Zan admitted. She was lying on her side next to him, propped up on her elbow.

"Good." Freddy grinned, and kissed her deeply on the lips.

They began getting ready as soon as they'd eaten lunch. Then they got into Freddy's car and he drove them to the studio. The others were already there.

"You look great, Zan!" Tomika complimented their new lead singer honestly. Even though Zan was supposed to play lead electric guitar, Zach was doing it this show. She was just singing, which was fine by her. She had never been all that great at multi-tasking.

"Thanks." Zan blushed furiously. Her outfit consisted of a very short blue jean pleated skirt with anarchy symbols sewn on. The top was a one-shouldered tank top made of sparkly black material that clung to her curves pleasantly. She wore a pair of chunky black combat boots and lots of jewelry and makeup. Her hair was pulled back into a sexy braid with lots of ribbons tied in.

Dewey clapped his hands together for attention. "Okay, everybody to the bus!" He shouted. The bus was actually his van, that he'd had for forever. They all piled in and drove off. It was very cramped in the back. Zan ended up practically in Freddy's lap, and she didn't mind so much.

The club they were playing at was completely deserted when they got there, except for the people who worked there. They set up their equipment on stage and began warming up. Zan was surprised to find her vocals didn't sound like crap. That couldn't be a good sign. A bad dress rehearsal meant a bad performance. Or did that only work with theater?

At seven o'clock, the doors opened and the club filled up very quickly. Everybody was excited to see the School of Rock again.

Zan felt her heart throbbing somewhere up in her throat, but Freddy gave her hand a slight squeeze on his way back to his drums and she felt a little bit better.

Somebody announced them, and the cheers were wild. They began to play, and everybody screamed with delight. A mosh pit formed quite early in the evening.

They played all night long. When the club closed at midnight, they were all exhausted and covered with sweat, but they were excited and happy. They had, surprisingly, had a great show.

They packed up their instruments and equipment and said goodbye to one another. Then Freddy and Zan left for home.

"You were amazing!" He assured her for about the hundredth time, grinning like a maniac with adrenaline.

"Ha! You're only saying that cause I'm your girlfriend!" Zan challenged, but she was happy nonetheless.

Freddy pulled into his driveway and walked her to her front door. Her dad, Clare, and Brittany had long since been home and gone to bed, but the front porch light was on for her.

"See you tomorrow." He breathed in her ear, then he kissed her deeply. Zan melted in the kiss, and was glad that it lasted a long time.

"Bye." She whispered back, then let herself into the house.

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It was a little bit short, I know, but I guess all of my chappies are a little bit short. Sorry about that. I hope you liked it. Review please?


	12. the trip from hell

Um yeah, desperately trying to update all my stories. I'm so grateful to all of you faithful reviewers and readers who keep up with my stories even though I am such a sucky updater! Anyway, I've had like a full bag of cotton candy and like 50 pixie stix so hopefully that will give me more than enough energy to write enough! I can hardly sit still right now!

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The next morning, Zan came downstairs around ten. Clare hadn't bothered to wake her up, because she must have known that Zan wouldn't be getting up anyway. There was a plate of pancakes in the microwave and a note from her dad taped to the refrigerator. Zan pulled the note off and read it:

Zan- We knew you would be extra tired this morning so we let you sleep in and skip church. Don't forget to pack enough warm clothes for this week! We'll be home after brunch with the Gersham's!

'Pack for what?' Zan thought to herself, crumpling up the note and throwing it away. She glanced at the clock, then shook her head. Her dad would still be in church and therefore have his cell phone off, so it was no use calling him to ask what he meant.

Zan hurriedly ate her breakfast, which was delicious even re-heated, and went upstairs to take a shower. Once she felt sufficiently clean, she got out and got dressed. Then she sat on her windowsill and opened the blinds.

Freddy was, as usual, sitting with a practice pad in his window. He smiled and waved to her. She smiled and waved back.

"Not at church?" He called inquiringly.

"Dad and Clare let me skip." She called back. "Dad did leave me this really weird note, though. Telling me to pack for something."

"Well yeah. It's Thanksgiving break this week." Freddy replied as though this answered it all. He must have noticed his girlfriend's blank stare because he said, "You dad and Clare go visit Clare's family every Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday."

"Oh." Zan said blankly, a million emotions whirling round inside her head and heart. She was just getting used to her new immediate family. She didn't know what would happen if Clare's uppity relatives met her now.

"They didn't tell you?" Freddy asked worriedly.

"Uh, no. Must have slipped their minds." Zan muttered. "Listen, I gotta run. Better start packing."

"Zan-" Freddy called, but she had already shut her window on him.

She stiffly pulled out a duffel bag from the top of her closet and set it on her unmade bed. She grabbed random articles of clothing, such as underwear and blue jeans, and stuffed them into the bag. She didn't notice much of what she was putting in until she found herself trying to shove her bedside lamp on top of a black Metallica t-shirt.

When the door opened and voices could be heard downstairs around noon, Zan walked slowly and stiffly down the stairs.

"Ah, all packed Zan?" Her dad asked cheerfully as he hung up his coat in the hall closet. "Our flight leaves first thing in the morning!"

"Yeah, I'm all packed." Zan said coldly. "So where are we going?"

Her dad looked all upset that he had forgotten to tell her what was happening. "I guess I just assumed you knew." He apologized. "We fly to California every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas."

"What's out in California?" Zan demanded stiffly.

"Clare's family." Her dad explained quickly. "Her parents and siblings and nieces and nephews and cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles-"

"So I'm meeting my step-mother's family before I get to meet my own family?" Zan asked chilly.

Her dad faltered and then stopped, not knowing what to say to her. Indeed, there was nothing he could say to make things right again. "Yes." He admitted finally.

"Fine." Zan said icily, and she turned around and stomped upstairs and refused to come down for the rest of the day.

She was in no mood at all to get up the following morning when Clare came into her room at half past four and told her it was time to wake up. She reluctantly got out of bed and pulled on the blue jeans and bright red and black halter-top she had decided would draw attention. She tied on her black low tops and pulled her long hair up into an odd bun with braided tendrils hanging down, decorated with random clips and beads and barrettes. She applied her makeup and brushed her teeth, then grabbed her bag and went downstairs.

"That's all you packed?" Brittany asked stupidly, staring at Zan's one lone duffel bag. Brittany herself had a suitcase and two other bags.

"I don't need my entire closet for one week." Zan snapped childishly. Both Clare and her father pretended not to hear.

"Okay, everybody outside." Her dad announced cheerfully, herding the family out into the garage. He loaded the bags into the back of the car and they all piled inside.

After stopping at a buffet restaurant for breakfast, they headed on to the airport. They checked all their bags and found their terminal. After waiting half an hour, they boarded their flight and got settled in.

"Have you ever flown before?" Brittany, who was sitting next to Zan, asked in a decidedly superior tone.

"Yes. I flew here, didn't I?" Zan asked pointedly.

"Oh yeah." Brittany muttered, and gave up on all forms of communication. Zan whipped out her IPOD and put the headphones on. Then she pulled out the book she was reading: The Gunslinger by Steven King.

Clare leaned across Brittany and tapped Zan on the shoulder. "What book is that?" She asked politely when Zan had removed her headphones. It was obvious she didn't approve, but she was too aware of her and her step-daughter's fragile relationship to come right out and say it.

Staring at her step-mother bluntly, Zan told her the title of the book.

"Do you think that's really appropriate for a girl your age to be reading?" Clare asked delicately. "Even I don't like to read Mr. King's work. It's very dark and mature. Perhaps something happier would suit you better."

"I like this." Zan answered sharply, and she put her headphones back on and continued reading. When she got too bored of reading, she pretending to continue just because it would bug Clare, but really she looked out the window.

It was true she had flown before, but she hadn't been paying a whole lot of attention to the view. It really was spectacular, being so high in the air; higher than the birds and the clouds and everything.

After a little while, Zan fell asleep. But just before she did, she thought to herself, "What a horrible week this is going to be."

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Okay, there you go, something to look forward to. Zan gets to meet all of her new family! Yay! Um yeah, my sugar high is wearing off now. Maybe I should go eat some more pixie stix and cotton candy… um yeah. So yeah. I'm gonna go now. 75 reviews before I post a new chappy. Shouldn't be hard. That's only like 7. You can do it. I have faith in you.


	13. crazy relatives, crazy girl

Um yeah. I'm definitely a sucky updated. I've had 75 reviews on this story for quite a while now, so I'm finally getting around to updating. Mostly because I'm putting off writing a paper for English.

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The plane landed in the Los Angeles Airport late that afternoon. Zan was glad. Her butt had gone numb about halfway through the trip, and she was ready to regain feeling. She followed her family off the plane and into the terminal.

Clare and her father talked animatedly as they led the way toward the baggage claim. Brittany pretended to be older than she really was, looking around for any movie stars she might happen to spot. Zan slunk along behind them, the odd little outcast that didn't belong to such a perfect family.

After retrieving their luggage, Zan's father hailed them a taxi and they climbed in. It was a forty-five minute drive out to Clare's parent's house, but nobody except Zan seemed to mind. Clare spent the entire drive rattling off about various relatives she couldn't wait to see.

The taxi finally pulled up in front of a nice Colonial-style house. It was painted white with green shutters, and had a rolling front lawn. The land in the back looked enormous. Zan even though she caught a glimpse of horses grazing in a pasture near the barn.

"Well come on, Zan. Don't dawdle." Clare urged, leading the way up the paved walkway to the front door. She let herself in. "Hello? Anybody home!"

"Clare!" An older woman with loads of permed white hair came toddling out of the kitchen, brandishing a wooden spoon. The woman enveloped Clare in an immense hug, then turned and hugged Zan's father. "How wonderful to see you, son." She kissed him on the cheek. "My little Brittany! My, how you've grown!" The woman rounded on Brittany, and nearly suffocated the girl with kisses. Zan was pushed into a corner and ignored.

"Is that you Clare?" A slender woman in her mid-forties appeared in the hallway. "Come on, everybody's in here!" And Clare, Mr. Wilson, and Brittany were drawn into the living room after the two women. Zan stood awkwardly in the hallway, wondering if anybody would notice her absence.

When nobody arrived to fetch her, she left her duffel bag sitting where it was and began to explore. She headed upstairs first, wanting to avoid any unnecessary contact with evil relatives. She slipped off her shoes as she climbed, her socks muffling the sound of her footfalls on the wooden floors.

All the rooms upstairs were empty. She let herself onto a balcony looking over the immense backyard (she'd been right about the horses) and she took out her cell phone to check the time.

"Two missed messages." Her phone intoned in a robotic voice.

She hurriedly dialed her own telephone number and listened to her voicemails. The first was from Tomika.

"Hey girl. Just calling to check up on you way over in LA." Tomika said cheerfully. "Seen any hot stars yet? Well if you do, you better be sure and give them my number. Anyway, have a good time! We're missing you back here! Bye!"

The second message was from Freddy.

"Hey Zan. I was just calling to see how your flight went. I hope it was okay. I know long flights are annoying. Call me back if you're not too busy having fun over there." She couldn't miss the sarcasm in his voice. "Bye."

Zan hurriedly called him back. He answered at the end of the first ring, almost as though he had been waiting for her to phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Freddy. It's me." She breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice. Something, _anything_, familiar felt good to her at the moment.

"Hey." Freddy's tone relaxed as well. "How's California so far?"

"A nightmare." Zan complained, leaning against the railing and letting the cold breeze ruffle her hair. She drew her jacket more tightly about her shoulders.

"That bad?" Freddy demanded sympathetically.

"Worse." Zan groaned, chewing on one of her braids. "We've been here all of twenty minutes and they've already forgotten about me."

"They forgot about you?" He repeated, almost as though he hadn't heard her right.

"Yep. They all walked off and left me standing there. So now I'm just kind of chilling, waiting to see when they remember I'm alive." She muttered.

"Well if it makes you feel any better, we're missing you like oxygen back here." Freddy said.

Zan smiled at his attempt to cheer her up. He was a great guy, really he was. "Thanks Freddy. It does make me feel better."

A beeping noise came from the other line. "Crap. My phone's about to die. Want me to call you back on my house phone?"

"Nah. There's not much to say really." Zan shrugged. "I'll call you if anything riveting happens here, kay?"

"Sure. I'll do the same for you." Freddy smiled.

"Bye." Zan hung up and slid her phone into her pocket. She stared out at the slowly setting sun. It was truly a beautiful place.

"Mommy, there's a strange girl on the balcony." The voice of a small child floated through the screen door.

Zan whirled around. A tall woman in a nice pantsuit marched over to the door, stared at Zan incredulously, then scooped up her three-year-old son. "Who are you?" She demanded.

"I-uh-" Zan didn't really know how to explain what she was doing on the balcony. She pulled open the screen door.

"No! Stay out there!" The woman exclaimed, looking from Zan's piercings to her unusual style of dress. "Hank!" She shouted.

A man with an immense mustache came running in. He caught sight of Zan and immediately advanced. "Who are you?" He demanded.

"I'm Clare's step-daughter!" Zan shouted angrily.

Both Hank and his wife stopped, then looked at one another. "_You're_ Alexandria?" The woman finally demanded.

"Yes, thanks for assuming I was some kind of murderer or something." Zan snapped, brushing past them and stomping down the stairs.

Brittany heard the noise and came out to see what was going on. "Where've you been?" She demanded.

"None of your business." Zan snapped, brushing past her step-sister and out the front door. She flopped herself down on the porch swing and glared out at the setting sun. She didn't know how she was going to survive this vacation.

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Okay, there's your chappy. 83 reviews or no more posties. XOXO


	14. memories

Kay, This is the last time I'm going to have to apologize for my lack of updating. Because I'm really gonna be on top of it this time. Anyway, so I figured now would be a good time to remind you that I don't own anybody but Zan and her new family.

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Zan's father came outside around six to get her. She was huddled up underneath the porch light, her arms wrapped around her shivering body, gazing up at the velvety night sky. He sat down next to her on the freezing step.

"Dinner's ready, sweetheart." He said gently.

"I'm not hungry." Zan muttered bitterly, looking down at her hands. Her black nail polish was chipped almost all the way off.

"You need to eat something. Please come inside. I want you to." He pleaded.

Zan let out a small laugh, and it was not a pleasant sound. "Oh, well _you want me to_. That solves everything then."

Mr. Wilson sighed heavily, climbed to his feet, and went back inside. Zan let her head loll back against the house in relief.

Then her father came back out, carrying two plates loaded down with food and two cans of soda. He handed her a plate and a soda, then sat down next to her.

"What are you doing?" She blinked at him.

"This is my Thanksgiving holiday, and I want to spend it with the one I'm most thankful for." He gave her a sad little smile and squeezed her shoulder.

"Thankful my ass." Zan snapped, pushing her food around on her plate. Even though she didn't want to give her father any satisfaction in eating the food, she _was_ hungry and the food _was_ really warm. "If you were thankful for me, why didn't you ever come to see me?"

"I guess I was afraid." Mr. Wilson sighed heavily, looking up at the stars as he ate his mashed potatoes. They were really good mashed potatoes, Zan decided. "I loved your mother very much, Alexandria. It may be hard for you to believe, but I did. You look so much like her…it's hard to deal with the memories."

"But you have a new wife now, a new family, a new life." Zan said stubbornly.

"New memories don't cancel out the old ones, sweetheart. I'll have those memories until the day I die." He said sadly.

They finished their meal in silence. Then Mr. Wilson climbed to his feet and stretched. "It's pretty chilly out here. What do you say we go grab some dessert in the kitchen?"

Zan nodded and followed him inside. She welcomed the heat.

The rest of the family was still sitting in the dining room, smoking cigars and reminiscing about old times. Mr. Wilson cut two slices of chocolate pie and he and his daughter sat down at the kitchen table to eat it.

When everybody had moved into the living room to wind down before bed, Mr. Wilson led Zan in there and cleared his throat. "Everybody, I'd like to introduced you to my daughter Alexandria."

There was a slight hesitation as those who hadn't seen her before took in her appearance. Then they warmly greeted her and hugged her and pretended like they hadn't forgotten about her. Her mind was too exhausted for her to even get angry.

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That night, as she lay in the guest room she was sharing with Britney, Zan lay awake in her twin bed underneath the hand-sewn quilt that smelled like cats. The moonlight crept through the drapes and cast unusual shadows on the cream-colored carpet.

Zan rolled over, wide awake. She watched Britney sleeping, her chest rising and falling rhythmically as she breathed. Then Zan turned onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

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The telephone rang. Ms. Beuford set down her pointed and went over to her desk. The class immediately erupted into whispers, as it always did when their teacher was distracted.

"So are you going to the party tonight?" Melinda Waters whispered. "I heard Hunter Davis is going to be there, the one you have such a big crush on."

Zan nodded eagerly, her eyes alight with anticipation. "I think this may be the night he asks me out." She grinned to her best friend.

Ms. Beuford set the phone back down onto her desk. "Miss Wilson, please go to the office. Take your belongings with you."

"What now?" Zan groaned loudly.

"You're still coming tonight, though, right?" Melinda asked uncertainly.

"Oh yeah. I'll be there." Zan assured her.

She wondered what she was in trouble for. She didn't think she'd done anything wrong. She wasn't a problem child. She was hardly ever in trouble.

She found her Aunt Olivia waiting for her in the office. "Aunt Olivia? What are you doing here?" She asked. She and her mother's sister had never really gotten along well. Olivia thought poorly of Zan because of her father.

"Your mother's been in an accident." Olivia said briskly. "I've come to take you to the hospital."

Zan felt her world cave in around her. Her mother was the center of her universe. Since it had just been the two of them for as long as she could remember, they'd been unnaturally close. They'd talked about everything, like best friends.

Zan vaulted into the car, urging her aunt to go faster than the speed limit. They finally arrived at the hospital and found the correct room.

Rose Wilson was lying on the hospital bed with an IV in her arm, hooked up to heart monitor. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was very shallow.

Zan collapsed next to her mother, sobbing uncontrollably at how pale her mother looked.

Zan didn't leave the hospital for a full week, and her mother never regained consciousness. She died on Wednesday. Zan was holding her hand when the heart monitor began to beep.

The funeral was on Friday. Zan stood numbly beside her mother's casket, looking at her mother's cold, hard face. But she had no more tears to shed.

She went to live with Aunt Olivia after that. That's when she'd gotten pierced, destroyed her clothes and belongings, and stopped caring about anything in general. Life without her mother wasn't life at all.

About a month after her mother's death, Zan couldn't take it anymore. With a heart as cold as stone, she took her aunt's razor and methodically sliced her wrists open.

There had been a lot of blood. It just kept gushing out, running all over the linoleum in the bathroom. It had frightened her, just enough to remind her that she was still human after all. But then she remembered the pain, and couldn't force herself to face that pain again.

So she lay there underneath the sink beside the bathtub, letting the blood flow out of her.

Because Aunt Olivia was at work, it was the plumber who found her. He'd come to fix the leaky faucet, and found the twisted teenager lying in a pool of her own blood.

She was placed in a rehabilitation hospital, and she stayed there for two months. They eventually decided that she was better, it had just been a brief spell of depression and she was over it. She was sent back to her aunt's house.

Aunt Olivia couldn't handle Zan anymore. She stooped to the lowest level possible and called her ex-brother-in-law and pressed him to take his daughter.

He hadn't hesitated to accept.

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Zan realized with a start that she'd been crying. Her pillow was soaked underneath her cheek. She flipped it over to the dry side and wiped her eyes.

She missed her mother. Rose Wilson had been her all, everything that mattered.

But she still had her father.

But why would she want him? He'd abandoned her and her mother when she was just a toddler. Or that's what her mother had always told her.

Zan finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep.


	15. changes

So at least it hasn't been like months and months and months since I last updated. Just two months. Yay for busy schedules. Anyway, so here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

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Zan heard a noise before she registered it. It took her a minute to realize that it was a blender going downstairs in the kitchen. She frowned into her pillow. Who was using a blender in the middle of the night?

She rolled over and opened her eyes. She was amazed to find the room filled with sunlight streaming through the window behind the white curtains. The bed next to hers, the one Britney was supposed to be sleeping in, was empty and neatly made.

Zan glanced up at the digital clock on the beside table by her head. Nearly ten. She hardly ever slept that late. She must have been really tired.

She threw back the soft sheets and climbed out of bed. She yawned and stretched, glad to be feeling refreshed. She usually didn't like making her bed, but since Britney had, she felt as though she must. So she made the bed the best she could.

She showered quickly in the hall bathroom and got dressed. She pulled her hair back in a messy bun and headed downstairs without even bothering with her makeup. She couldn't care less that day.

There were only three people in the entire house, Zan discovered. Clare's mother Kathleen was in the kitchen, fixing health smoothies. That's why the blender that had woken Zan was running. Clare's sister and niece, Fiona and Gina, were sitting in the living room.

Zan didn't mean to interrupt them from their tea-sipping, but they both looked up when she entered. Fiona was middle-aged, dressed in an orange and yellow flowered dress, with graying blonde hair cut quite short. Gina resembled her mother. She was only about nineteen. She was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and an NYU sweatshirt.

"Sorry I just-" Zan began to apologize, but Fiona interrupted her.

"You must be Alexandria, Bill's daughter." She said, setting down her teacup. "Have a seat. We haven't gotten to see much of you."

"I.-well uh-I-" Zan struggled to find words to justify her absence the previous evening.

"Are you hungry?" Fiona asked. "Mother's making smoothies."

Zan was definitely going to refuse. The thought of drinking something so sweet when she'd just woken up was not appealing in the least.

Gina caught sight of her face and chuckled. "I know it sounds disgusting, but they're actually really good. You should try one."

"Okay." Zan agreed. Why had she said that? She didn't want one of their damn smoothies! She was not going to let them turn her into one of them.

"Hey Gramma!" Gina shouted into the kitchen above the noise of the blender. "Alexandria wants a smoothie too!"

"Alright sweetheart!" Kathleen called back.

"Don't just stand there. Have a seat. Tell us a little bit about yourself." Fiona suggested, motioning to the couch beside her.

Zan reluctantly sat down on the plushy soft cushion beside her new step-aunt. "Well, I'm a sophomore this year. I play in a band."

"Really?" Gina seemed really interested at this. "I always wanted to sing in a band. I just never had the guts. What do you play?"

"Well I play backup guitar and I'm also the lead singer." Zan admitted, feeling a little embarrassed about all the attention.

"That's amazing." Gina gushed.

"What else do you like to do?" Fiona urged.

"I like to read." Zan admitted. She wondered why she'd said that. She usually pretended that she hated to read, because she was afraid her image would be ruined if people knew. She supposed dryly that Gina and Fiona couldn't do much to harm her image.

It turned out that Gina loved to read as well, and the two of them spent an incredibly pleasant morning and afternoon discussing all sorts of things they liked to read.

Mr. Wilson and Clare returned with the rest of the family before too long, and Mr. Wilson was infinitely pleased to see his daughter getting along with her new family.

"Hey sweetheart." He smiled, walking over to her.

"Hi dad." She answered distractedly, not thinking. She was too involved with her discussion of Jane Eyre with Gina.

Mr. Wilson noticed for sure. It was the first time he could ever remember Zan calling him anything like that. Even before he and her mother had split, it had always been something formal and distant.

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By the time Thursday rolled around, Zan was on good terms with all of Clare's family. She couldn't ever remember feeling this at home with anybody. She even managed to forget that they had forgotten about her at the beginning of her stay.

Thanksgiving dinner was a splendid affair. It turned out that Kathleen was an amazing cook, and Zan ate more food than she'd ever eaten before. She even joined in when Clare's father, John, said grace. She stood there, holding hands with her father and Gina, and prayed for the first time since her mother's death.

In the morning, all the relatives packed up their belongings, and Mr. Wilson called a taxi to take his family back home. Zan realized, as she sat on the plane heading back, that she was actually looking forward to Christmas with her new family.

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I know it's incredibly short and not much happened in the chapter, but it advanced a bit plotwise, eh? Now Zan has normal human feelings. Woot woot. Review.


	16. shopping

Okay, so you can expect my updates once a month from now on. Usually toward the end of the month. So now you'll know when to expect installments from me. Anyway, so here's April's chapter. Enjoy please!

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Zan was eager to go back to school when Monday rolled around. She got dressed in her uniform, chowed down her breakfast with her family without complaint, and walked next door.

"Hey!" Freddy answered the door with a smile, kissing her fondly on the lips. "How was your Thanksgiving in California?"

"Actually, it was a lot of fun," Zan admitted, climbing into the front passenger seat of her boyfriend's car. "I made cookies with Clare and her sisters, and I even learned how to ride a horse from one of my new cousins. Step-cousins, I guess."

Freddy stared at her incredulously as he backed out of his driveway. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?" He demanded.

Zan chuckled. "I dunno. Me and my dad talked a bit about my mom. He even gave me some old pictures of them when they were dating from way back in the eighties."

"But baking cookies with Clare?" Freddy repeated.

"Okay, maybe that was a bit much," Zan conceded, playing with the hem of her pleated skirt. "I guess I just wanted to sort of thank her for trying. I guess I haven't really been the best step-daughter in the world."

Freddy gave her hand a comforting squeeze and smiled.

They pulled into the school parking lot a few minutes later. They climbed out of the car and walked inside hand-in-hand. Summer approached them as they were heading to their lockers in the sophomore hallway. "Band concert next weekend." She reminded them glumly. She played the clarinet in the school's concert band. Freddie and Zan, along with all the other members of the School of Rock, were in the school band because of their huge appreciation for music.

"Yeah, well. Maybe it won't be so bad." Zan, who had never been in a band concert before, shrugged.

"It's the Christmas concert. We all have to dress up." Summer explained.

Zan paused. She hadn't gotten dressed up since her mother's funeral. She didn't like being in anything uncomfortable. She always ended up messing it up somehow. The dress her aunt had insisted she wear to her mother's funeral had ended up with a big tear down the side that could not be fixed.

"It's boring, but we all go out to dinner and the movies afterwards." Freddie reminded Summer.

"Yeah, yeah," She answered, rolling the eyes. She followed them down the sophomore hallway. "Can we go see that new scary movie?"

Zan couldn't stop thinking about the concert coming up that weekend all day long. She didn't even own anything nice she could wear!

When band rolled around, she found herself partnered with a girl she'd never met before named Natalie Fuller. They were partnered up because they were starting a project about musical history.

"Do you like classical?" Nat asked, referring to their particular topic."

"Yeah, I love it." Zan answered honestly. She loved AC/DC and the Rolling Stones just as much as the next person, but she also adored Beethoven and Copland, Gershwin and Wagner. (An. Just so you know, those four wrote my favorite musical pieces ever: the fifth, Appalachian Spring, Rhapsody in Blue, and In the Hall of the Mountain King. Just so you know. If you've never listened to them, you should, because you'll love them.)

"Really? I wouldn't peg you for a classical fan." Nat smiled. "Aren't you in that band with Zach and Katie and all them?"

"Yeah," Zan found it oddly pleasing that people knew who she was because of her involvement in the School of Rock. "What about you? Are you in a band?"

"No." Nat shook her head. "I play lacrosse for the school, though."

"Lacrosse?" Zan repeated, her eyes wide. She'd played lacrosse the year before her mother's death, and she had loved every minute of it.

Nat noticed her new friend's eyes light up and an idea formed in her mind. "You wouldn't by any chance want to join the team, would you?"

"It's probably too late to sign up." Zan shook her head, not allowing herself to be hopeful. "The first semester is almost over already."

"I can talk to the coach for you, if you want." Nat offered. "The thing is, we're actually short on girls right now. We could use whoever wants to come."

"Okay." Zan agreed with a smile.

From across the room where he was working on his jazz project with a tuba player, Freddie watched his girlfriend talking and laughing with Nat. He smiled to himself. She had changed to much since he'd first met her.

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Zan kissed Freddie goodbye and headed next door to her own house after school. She left herself in the front door and walked back into the kitchen.

Clare was in there, and she was already starting on dinner. She was putting a chicken in the oven when Zan climbed up on a bar stool with a glass of lemonade.

Clare looked up, then smiled. "Hello Zan. How was school today?"

"Good." Zan answered, twirling her straw around in he drink. "I'm thinking about joining the lacrosse team. What do you think?"

Clare looked surprised, then she smiled again. "Well I think that's great, honey." She said. "Team sports are so rewarding!"

"Great." Zan chewed on the ends of her hair awkwardly. "Oh yeah. I need a dress." She added in as offhand a manner as she could manage.

Clare nearly burned herself on the oven. "A dress?" She repeated, trying not to sound incredulous. "You want a dress?"

"Need. I need a dress." Zan corrected, trying unsuccessfully not to blush. "I need it for a band concert at school this Friday."

"Alright." Clare nodded, wiping her hands. "How about we go Wednesday after you get out of school?" She offered.

So after school a couple days later, Clare picked Zan up from the high school and they drove to the mall. Clare had a great time dressing up her step-daughter, and even Zan didn't mind too much.

Once they had decided on and purchased a dress, they bought some ice cream from a stand in the food court and sat at a table to enjoy it.

Zan related the evens of the afternoon to Freddie over the phone late that evening.

"You had ice cream with your step-mom and had fun?" He repeated dubiously once she had finished, lying on his back on his bed. Through his window, he could see his girlfriend perched on her desk chair, painting her nails.

Zan paused. "Well, yeah. I guess I did."

Freddie smiled at her from where he was laying. "Good for you."

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Kind of short, but fun. Zan is definitely taking a turn for the better. Now, I'm afraid I must leave you all. My cat is screaming at the top of his lungs and I should probably go see why. Review!


	17. backsliding

Okay, sorry that the May update is a little late. I've just been swamped. But here it is, so no more worries. Keep reading and reviewing, and I will keep posting. Deal? Good.

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"Are you sure I look okay?" Zan murmured, checking her reflection for about the hundredth time in the full length mirror on the back of her door. She smoothed down her maroon dress again. It had spaghetti straps, and reached just above her knees. She was wearing plain black high heels on her feet. Her hair had been pulled back in pretty curls.

"You look absolutely stunning, dear." Claire smiled broadly. She'd helped her step-daughter do her hair and makeup, and was as proud of Zan as any real mother could have been.

Zan graced her step-mother with a real smile. "Thanks." She said.

"Well, are you ready then?" Claire picked herself up from where she had been sitting on the end of Zan's bed. She was dressed in a black knee-length dress with long-sleeves and pearls around her neck. She looked every bit as stuffy and proper as Zan first thought, and she didn't even mind anymore.

"Yeah, I guess so." Zan agreed, smoothing down her curls one last time. It was the girliest she could remember looking in a very long time.

She followed her step-mother down the stairs and into the entrance hall. Her father and Brittany were waiting there, fully dressed and ready to go.

"Let's hit the road." Her father suggested.

They all climbed into the car and he drove them to the high school. They parked in the already crowded parking lot and headed inside.

"Zan!" Katie ran straight up to her friend when Zan walked in the door. Katie looked gorgeous in a green velvet dress with a square-cut neckline. She was wearing bright red sparkly pumps that reminded Zan of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

"Hey Katie." Zan greeted her friend. She turned to her father and step-mother. "These are my parents." It came out naturally, and she hardly even noticed she'd said it. "And this is my half-sister, Brittany. Guys, this is Katie."

"Nice to meet you." Katie said politely, shaking their hands.

"Likewise." Claire smiled warmly. She was truly happy that her step-daughter had found some real friends so quickly.

"Well, we'd better go tune up." Zan said, rolling her eyes at Katie as if to say, 'Parents. What can you do with them?' "I'll meet you guys after the concert."

"Alright. Good luck." Her father called as she and Katie escaped.

"Your folks seem nice." Katie commented as they walked on stage behind the curtain, where the chairs were arced up.

"Yeah, I guess so." Zan agreed, scanning the crowd for a familiar blonde head.

"You brought your folks?" Freddy asked from behind her.

She whirled around, smiling. "Yeah, so what? You brought yours."

"Yeah, I did." He smiled back, then kissed her lightly on the lips. She smiled into their kiss. It was so nice to have somebody to hold you like this.

"Hey, this isn't social hour!" Their band director snapped at them. "We're about to perform! Warm up already!" So they did.

After the concert, Christmas Vacation officially began. Zan woke up late the following Monday, stretched luxuriously in her big, warm bed, then glanced at the clock. Nearly half past nine. She never slept that late.

She crawled out of bed and slid her feet into some fuzzy slippers she'd filched from Brittany. Her half-sister knew that she had them and didn't care; she'd never actually worn them. Zan went downstairs, passing by her parents' empty bedroom and Brittany's occupied one. The only thing that would have made the holidays better was Brittany still being in school. But whatever. Zan could cope.

The telephone rang as she was in the kitchen, pouring herself a bowl of Lucky Charms. She answered it quickly, hoping to catch it before it woke Brittany up. "Hello?" She said, putting the box of cereal back in the pantry.

"Hey Zan, it's Marta." Marta said, sounding bright and cheerful.

"Hey, what's up?" Zan answered, going to the refrigerator for the carton of milk. There were three different kinds: whole, 2, and soy. She chose soy.

"Well, a bunch of us are going out tonight. So you've gotta come too, okay?" Marta sounded extremely eager, even for her.

"Where are we going?" Zan questioned, settling down at the counter to eat her cereal. She made sure she got a marshmallow in each bite. That's what made Lucky Charms so good.

"Well, there's this music club that Dewey goes to a lot." Marta admitted in a low, confiding voice. "You're supposed to be eighteen to get in, but we're gonna try and get in anyway. Dewey knows the manager or something."

"You sure it's not going to fall through?" Zan asked skeptically.

"Eh, it may." Marta answered bluntly. "But even if it does, we'll still have fun. We can go see a movie, or go to the skate park or something. Right?"

"Yeah, okay." Zan nodded. "Sounds good."

"Great. You need a ride?" Marta asked.

"I'll catch one with Freddy." Zan answered.

"Awesome. See you later."

"Yeah, bye." As soon as she hung up the phone, she dialed Freddy's phone. It rang five times before the answering machine picked up. She didn't bother leaving a message.

Seconds after she'd hung up, the phone rang again. "Hey Freddy." She smiled when she answered it.

"Hey." He sounded sleepy. "Jeez, you're up early."

"Yeah, whatever." She shrugged, licking a marshmallow off her spoon. "Listen, everybody's going out to some club tonight with Dewey, so I need a ride."

"That's fine." Freddy agreed, sounding slightly more awake. "I'll call Zach and figure out what time and exactly where."

"Great. See you tonight then." She kissed the phone, then hung up.

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"You look… girly." Brittany offered when Zan came down the stairs that evening at a quarter past eight.

"Is it too much?" Zan asked nervously. She was wearing blue jeans, tight blue jeans, with a hot pink belt. Her blouse was tight, hot pink, and hung off her bare shoulders. Her hair hung loose down her back, and she wore pumps instead of combat boots or Converse.

"I think you look beautiful, sweetheart." Her dad said, looking up from where he was watching a Christmas movie on television with Claire. "What time will you be back?"

"I'm really not sure." She answered. "But I'll have my cell phone with me if you need to call me."

"Check in with me at ten. And no later than eleven. You're still only sixteen, young lady." Her father was actually stern with her.

She couldn't help but smile. "I'll be home by eleven." She promised. Then she turned and headed out the front door, pulling it shut behind her.

Freddy was waiting in his car at the end of her driveway. She hurried down, nearly toppling over in her high heels, and climbed into the front passenger seat.

"Hey." She greeted him, leaning over and kissing him firmly on the lips.

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"What time is it?" Zan shouted over the roar and pounding of the music. She leaned over Freddy to shout at Tomika, who was the only one wearing a watch.

"A quarter till midnight!" Tomika shouted back, checking her watch.

"Dammit. I was supposed to be home forty-five minutes ago." She cursed, tugging her cell phone out of her back pocket. No missed calls. "Hm. I guess they must be asleep. Then they won't care what time I come home." She grinned, then went back to listening to the music.

It was nearing one when they finally left the club. Dewey bade them all goodnight, then drove home. He probably expected them all to do the same.

"Hey, my sister is having this huge party at my house because my parents are out of town." Alicia said as they stood out front of the club, shivering in the December air. "We should go check it out."

"How old is your sister?" Lawrence asked.

"Twenty." Alicia answered. "Come on, let's go."

Alicia's sister's friends, it seemed, had managed to get hold of quite a bit of alcohol. It wasn't long before all of them had a drink in their hands.

"You're really pretty, you know." Freddy slurred, his arms wrapped around Zan's waist as they cuddled on the couch.

"And you're drunk." She laughed. Out of all of them, she'd drunk the most and managed to hold her liquor the best.

Suddenly the sound of sirens filled the house.

"Cops!" Somebody shouted, and there was an immediate scrambling for the exits.

Zan leaped to her feet, her hand still clutching Freddy's, and the two of them took off after Katie and Zach, who were running for the back door. It was clogged with people streaming out into the grassy expanse of backyard, which ended in woods.

It was too clogged for them to get through. The cops caught up with them before they managed to escape.

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Zan had a splitting headache by the time her father arrived to pick her up from the police station. It had to be close to four in the morning by this time, and the bright fluorescent lights were pounding at her skull painfully.

She sat in a hard-backed plastic chair, leaning against Katie. Katie was practically passed out. They were the only two left in the police station. Everyone else's parents had already picked them up.

"Alexandria." He said grimly, giving her a disappointed, furious look. She hadn't even known he was capable of such a look. "Come on, we're going home."

"See you later." She mumbled to Katie, which was really very funny. If her father kept up with this sort of attitude, she'd be grounded until the end of the school year.

She followed her father out into the parking lot. She'd lost her shoes at some point, probably in the scrabble to get out of Alicia's house, but she hardly even noticed the cold. She climbed into the front passenger seat and let her head loll against the glass in the window.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Alexandria." Her father said grimly to her. "I gave you very specific instructions. Be home by eleven. You understand that if you had done what I told you to do, you wouldn't be in this mess."

"God, yes, I understand. Can't we do this another time?" She rubbed her temples wearily. She just wanted to go to bed now.

"No, we're going to talk about this now." He snapped. He sounded really angry. Angrier than she'd ever seen him before. "This is never going to happen again, do you hear me? Never. You're grounded for the rest of your vacation from school. You're going to stay home and do stuff with your family. And no seeing any of those friends from your band."

"But dad, I have to see them! We have to have practice!" She blurted out, then grimaced. It was the first rule of dealing with parents. If you let them know how much you wanted something, the more power it gave them. Now she'd never get to go to practice.

"Well that's just too bad." Her father snapped, pulling into the driveway. "Now go to bed. I don't want to see you for a long time."

"I can do that." She snapped, climbing out of the car and slamming the door shut. She stomped up the stairs and into her room, slamming that door shut as well.

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I guess she's backsliding, huh? Okay, well review please, and I'll post another chappy!


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